Do you know what the November birth flower is?
Just like birthstones, there are birth month flowers for every month of the year. Birth month flowers are usually in season during their specific month, so they should be easy to find in florists and mixed bouquets – making them perfect for a really thoughtful gift, or just a treat for yourself!
If your birthday is in November, or if you’d like to buy a personalised gift for a loved one with an November birthday, read on to find about more about the November birth flower and it’s symbolism.
November birth flower: Chrysanthemum
One of the most widely grown flowers in the world, chrysanthemums or ‘mums’ are members of the daisy family. Chrysanthemums originate from Asia and northeastern Europe. Their name comes from the Greek words “chrysos” meaning gold, and “anthemon” meaning flower.
For me, chrysanthemums are synonymous with allotments and horticultural shows. Growing up on my dad’s allotment, I remember all the plot holders grew them, and there was much friendly competition around the time of the local flower show. Fast-forward to today and it’s a very similar picture at our local allotments.
Having said this, there are a huge amount of chrysanthemum flower varieties to choose from, many of which look nothing like those big blousy blossoms from my childhood.
As well as pom-poms, there are simple daisy-like blooms, spiky-petalled varieties and even spindly ‘quill’ flowers. All this choice makes chrysanthemums a perfectly acceptable modern flower to gift.
The general meaning of chrysanthemums is friendship, optimism and joy. However, as with many flowers, the meaning can vary according to their colour. Red blooms signify love, white signify purity and pure love, and yellow signify unrequited love.
Interestingly, despite being the November birth flower, chrysanthemums are traditionally given on Mother’s Day in March. I guess such a popular and widely-grown flower can easily come to represent more than one celebration.
For the first time in this series, there is only one flower that represents the month. However, there’s such a breadth of styles to choose from that it’s not hard to find a chrysanthemum to perfectly suit the recipient. Writing this I realise I’ve previously had a rather narrow view of chrysanthemums. From now on I’ll be exploring the wide variety that they offer, and not just dismissing them as old-fashioned and belonging to the petrol station forecourt. How about you?
More birth month flowers
If you’d like to learn more about the origins of birth month flowers, this post covers the history of the concept. It also has links to the birth month flowers for every month of the year.
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