Birth Month Flowers: What They Are and How to Send Them in Bangkok

Birth month flowers are the twelve flowers, one per month, that jewellery shops, tattoo artists and gift sites attach to a birthday. This guide gives you the commonly used list of birth flowers by month, then does what most lists skip: it tells you which of those flowers you can get in Bangkok, which you cannot, and what to send in their place so the gesture still works.

About half the list is easy here and half is not. Carnation, rose, marigold and chrysanthemum are all around you. Lily of the valley, larkspur and violet are not regular cut flowers in Bangkok, so for those months the skill is in choosing a substitute with the same colour, shape or feeling. For a birthday bouquet with no month attached, start at our birthday flowers in Bangkok page.

Birth month flowers: the list, and where it comes from

No single body owns the list. The Old Farmer's Almanac gives two flowers per month, from January's carnation and snowdrop to December's narcissus and holly, and explains that there are two because cultures disagree and some flowers are not available everywhere. It adds that each flower is usually tied to its blooming season. That second point matters for Bangkok, where the seasons are not the ones the list was written for.

The origins are vague. The Farmers' Almanac says exact origins are unclear, with Ancient Rome a possible source and the modern list owing more to the Victorians. A Penn State Extension note says birth month flowers draw on folklore and tradition rather than scientific study, and that definitions vary by source and time.

Expect to find your month under another flower somewhere. A garden club list gives February as iris and December as poinsettia, and an Illinois Extension handout gives October as calendula. The list below follows the commonly used version, with the common alternative named where one exists.

The meanings attached to each flower come from the Victorian language of flowers, when, according to the Smithsonian Gardens, nearly every home had a guidebook and meanings changed over time and culture. Treat them as a line for a card, not a code your recipient will decode.

January to April: carnation, violet, daffodil and daisy

January birth flower: carnation

The January birth flower is the carnation, with snowdrop as the alternative. Carnation is the easiest flower on the whole list to buy in Bangkok, and it is also one of the longest-lasting: a Purdue floral-design instructor gives carnations roughly two weeks in the vase, about as long as any common cut flower manages. January is also cool season, which helps. Our gerbera, carnation and mums range is where to start.

February birth flower: violet

Violet is the usual February flower, with iris as the alternative. We do not list violets, and they are not a regular Bangkok stem, so the practical February answer is a soft pink rose bouquet, which keeps the modest, gentle mood the violet is meant to carry. February also holds Valentine's Day, so a birthday near the 14th needs an early order; our guide to Valentine's flowers in Bangkok explains the rush.

March birth flower: daffodil

Daffodil is March's flower, a cool-climate spring bulb. The same Purdue source says tulips and daffodils last only three to four days, and March is the start of Bangkok's hot season, so a daffodil would struggle even if you found one. The closest practical stand-in is a tulip bouquet, if the studio has stock that week, or orange roses for the same warm yellow-gold mood.

April birth flower: daisy

Daisy is the usual April flower, with sweet pea as the alternative. A true daisy is a small field flower, but its larger cousin the gerbera is easy to find in the same range as the carnations above. April is Songkran month, so a birthday in the second week of April needs a delivery plan; see our piece on Songkran flower delivery in Bangkok.

May to August: lily of the valley, rose, larkspur and gladiolus

May birth flower: lily of the valley

Lily of the valley is May's flower, with hawthorn as the alternative. It is a tiny white bell flower from cool climates, and it is not a Bangkok cut flower. The substitute that keeps the idea is something small, white and soft: white-pink roses, or a small all-white Signature design such as The White Room.

June birth flower: rose

The June birth flower is the rose, with honeysuckle as the alternative, and Bangkok is well supplied with roses in every colour. The sizes run from 5 to 500 stems; 10 roses are ฿2,399 and 20 roses are ฿3,299. If the count is the hard part, our guide to how many roses to send settles it by occasion. June is rainy season, so the main care point is to get the bouquet into water quickly after it arrives.

July birth flower: larkspur

Larkspur is July's flower, with water lily as the alternative. Larkspur is a tall spike of blue, purple or pink flowers, and it is not a regular stem in Bangkok. Hydrangea is a rounder shape but gives the same cool, soft mass; ask which colours are in that week. If you like the water lily alternative, lotus is the Thai equivalent, and the red lotus fields near Nakhon Pathom flower from July into December according to the TAT calendar cited below. Lotus is a different plant and a fragile one, so enjoy it on a visit rather than in a bouquet.

August birth flower: gladiolus

Gladiolus is August's flower, with poppy as the alternative. We do not list gladiolus, and it is not a standard Bangkok stem. What it is known for is height, and a tall orchid spray gives you the same upright line; our orchid collection is the place to look, and a potted phalaenopsis lasts longer still; see our orchid care guide. A birthday on 12 August falls on Thai Mother's Day, when jasmine takes over the market, so order early. Our guide to Thai Mother's Day flowers covers that date.

September to December: aster, marigold, chrysanthemum and narcissus

September birth flower: aster

Aster is September's flower, with morning glory as the alternative. Aster is a daisy-family flower, and the nearest Bangkok stem is the spray chrysanthemum or gerbera. September is deep in the rainy season, so a long-lasting daisy-family bouquet suits it better than a fragile one.

October birth flower: marigold

October's flower is the marigold, with cosmos as the alternative. This is one of the easiest flowers on the list to find in Bangkok; National Geographic's account of Pak Khlong Talat lists marigolds among the market's easy finds, and our flower market guide says where the garland stalls are. Its Thai associations are covered in their own section below. Orange roses echo the colour without the baggage.

November birth flower: chrysanthemum

The November birth flower is the chrysanthemum, with peony as the alternative. November is the start of the cool season, so chrysanthemums are at their best, and they are everywhere. Peony is a cool-climate flower that the Royal Horticultural Society describes as flowering briefly in late spring to early summer; in Bangkok it is an imported stem. Our peony bouquets cover that alternative, and our seasonal flowers guide explains the import logic month by month.

December birth flower: narcissus

Narcissus is December's flower, usually the paperwhite type, with holly as the alternative. The Almanac's December page names holly and paperwhite narcissus. Neither is a Bangkok cut flower. White-pink roses carry the winter, white-and-green mood well. A December birthday sits between Thai Father's Day on 5 December, a public holiday, and Christmas, so check our piece on Christmas flowers for the busy dates.

Which birth flowers you can actually get in Bangkok, and when

This split is a florist's reading of the market, not a published list, so ask when you order.

• Easy all year: rose (June), carnation (January), marigold (October), chrysanthemum (November), and the daisy-family stand-ins for April and September.
• Possible, imported, ask first: tulip as a daffodil substitute, peony (November's alternative), hydrangea as a larkspur stand-in.
• Not regular cut flowers here: lily of the valley, larkspur, violet, gladiolus, holly and paperwhite narcissus.

The reason follows from where flowers grow. A 1990s FAO paper explains the split: the lowlands around Bangkok grow orchids and other tropical flowers, while temperate species go to the cooler north and north-east. The paper is dated, but the geography is not: anything that wants a real winter is grown on highland farms or flown in.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand's flower blooming calendar shows the same thing from the other side. Its highlights, Thai cherry blossoms in January and February, candle flowers in June and July, red lotus from July to December, are Thai flowers on Thai schedules, none of them on the birth month list. Sunflowers are the one seasonal crop that does help. The calendar places the Lopburi and Saraburi fields in November to January, which makes a sunflower bouquet a natural cool-season pick for anyone whose traditional flower is yellow.

November to February gives the widest choice of flowers that match the traditional list; from March to October most choices are substitutes, which is fine if you say so.

Substitutes that keep the meaning: roses, tulips, hydrangea and orchids

A good substitute keeps one of three things from the original: its colour, its shape or its mood.

Colour. Match the original's colour where you can. White-pink roses stand in for lily of the valley, orange roses for marigold and daffodil, pink roses for the violet's softness.

Shape. Tall, upright stems stand in for larkspur and gladiolus: orchid sprays do this well. Round, dense heads stand in for aster and chrysanthemum: hydrangea and pom pom mums both do.

Mood. If a flower has a meaning you want to keep, the card carries it. The RHS's school resource on what flowers were once said to mean gives bashfulness for peony, longevity and elegance for orchid, and pure thoughts, adoration and dedication for sunflower. Borrow those lines, with credit to tradition, rather than promising anything.

Name the swap on the card. A line that reads "Your month is lily of the valley, which Bangkok does not stock, so these are the closest white I could find" is warmer than a bouquet that silently changes the flower, and it turns the substitute into part of the story; the three-line method in our guide to what to write on a flower card fits around it.

Marigold and chrysanthemum: the two with Thai associations to think about

Marigold (October) and chrysanthemum (November) carry more weight in Thailand than they do on a jewellery site. Our piece on flower meanings by flower covers both in full; here is the part that matters for a birthday.

The Bangkok Post's piece on garlands as hair accessories starts from the same three flowers, jasmine, marigold and rose, and the two settings they belong to: the shrine, and an elder's house at Songkran. The Thailand Foundation says flowers are offered to monks, Buddha images and elders to show respect. A marigold bouquet is therefore not wrong, but in a Thai household it can read as an offering flower rather than a birthday flower, depending on the family and the form.

Chrysanthemum cuts both ways. It is commonly said to be a funeral flower in parts of East Asia and Europe, and it turns up in Thai temple arrangements, so a bunch of white mums can land badly. The same flower is also a gift of long life: Cornell Botanic Gardens notes that golden or yellow chrysanthemum signifies affluence and longevity and is given to elders at Lunar New Year. Colour and company decide which reading the recipient gets.

The practical rules for a birthday are short:

1. Mix, do not use one. Marigold or chrysanthemum alongside roses reads as a bouquet. On their own they read as an offering.
2. Avoid all white for chrysanthemum. Add pink, yellow or a warm colour.
3. Ask about older recipients. For a grandparent or a temple-going relative, ask a family member what they would like; our notes on Thai flower-giving etiquette cover elders and the wai.
4. Check sensitivities. A dermatology review of Compositae allergy says the daisy family can sensitise skin, with symptoms from eczema to hay fever. Marigold, chrysanthemum, aster and daisy all belong to it, so if the person reacts to daisies, choose another month's substitute or one of the allergy-friendly flowers.

Making it a gift: the birth flower bouquet plus cake, a card or jewellery

A birth flower bouquet works best as one part of a small bundle. The flower says "I know your month"; the other pieces say "I know you".

Cake is the usual partner. The Thailand Foundation notes that a city birthday now often has cake and candles, while temple merit-making is still the older custom. Our birthday cake page shows the options, and the birthday bundles group cake and flowers into one order; both list their own prices. If the flowers are for a party rather than a person, our guide to birthday party flowers in Bangkok covers table flowers and the photo corner.

A card is where the birth flower idea lives. Our greeting cards sit with the flowers, and the line about the month is the part the recipient keeps. Jewellery is the other pairing, since that is where many people first met birth flowers; see the jewellery gifts.

For the recipient, start at birthday flowers for her or birthday flowers for him; a January carnation or an October orange rose has the same story for anyone. To choose the stems yourself, use the build-your-own tool.

Worked example: a May birthday in Thonglor

Say a friend has a birthday on 18 May and lives in a Thonglor condo. May is hot, so lily of the valley is out of the question twice over. You choose 10 white-pink roses at ฿2,399, which keeps the small white colour, and you add a card. You send them on the afternoon of the 17th to her building's juristic office, having asked her whether the office is somewhere she is happy to collect from. The card reads: "May is lily of the valley, and Bangkok does not stock it. These are the closest white I could get."

Worked example: a November birthday, a Thai colleague

Say a colleague born in November is turning 40 and your team has chipped in. Chrysanthemum is the flower, but you do not want an all-white bunch arriving at an office-tower reception. You choose 20 pink roses at ฿3,299 and ask in chat whether pink mums can go in with them. The card reads: "November is chrysanthemum, so a few are in here. The rest is from all of us." You check with her before sending to the office.

When not to send a birth flower

Do not send a birth flower to someone you barely know. It can look as though you looked up their birthday and built a gesture from it. Do not send it as a surprise to someone's workplace or home without knowing they are comfortable sharing that address. And if the birth flower is one the person dislikes or reacts to, send something else; the list is an idea, not a rule.

Delivery timing for a Bangkok birthday: the night before or the morning of

For a birthday, the question is not how fast the flowers can arrive, but when the person wants to find them. Tell us the date in chat; no exact arrival clock time is promised.

The cut-offs are fixed: same day for bouquets up to 40 roses ordered by 9 pm Bangkok time, 50 roses by 7 pm, 24 hours' notice for 70 and 100 roses, 48 hours for 200 and 48 to 72 hours for 500. The delivery page carries the details.

A timeline for a Thursday birthday and a 20-rose bouquet:

• Tuesday: choose the flower or substitute, write the card and confirm the address.
• Wednesday: the night-before option. Ask for delivery on Wednesday, so the flowers are in water overnight and are on the table when the person wakes.
• Thursday: the morning-of option. Ask for delivery on the day, which suits a person who works from home or a condo with a front desk.
• Thursday, ordered by 9 pm: the last-minute option. It works for up to 40 roses, but Bangkok traffic, not the cut-off, decides how late it lands.

If the birthday person lives in a condo, the juristic office or front desk usually receives it, so give the unit number and a phone number they will answer; our guide to sending flowers to a Bangkok condo explains the handover. And if the birthday includes a temple visit, ask when the merit-making is, because the person may be out at the time you planned.

A birth month flower table with a FlowerRova pick for each month

Use this table as a decision tool for birthday flowers by month: the commonly used flower, its traditional meaning, and the pick we would send in Bangkok. Prices live on each page; for roses, 30 stems are ฿3,999.

Month	Traditional flower	Said to mean	FlowerRova pick	Pairing
January	Carnation	Affection	Carnations from the gerbera, carnation and mums range	A card and a small cake
February	Violet	Modesty	10 pink roses	Chocolate; order early near the 14th
March	Daffodil	New beginnings	Tulips if in stock, else orange roses	A card about the year ahead
April	Daisy	Innocence	Gerbera, or 10 pink roses	Order around Songkran
May	Lily of the valley	Return of happiness	White-pink roses, or The White Room	A card naming the swap
June	Rose	Love, admiration	20 roses in her or his colour	Cake
July	Larkspur	Lightness	Hydrangea	A card; keep out of direct sun
August	Gladiolus	Sincerity	Orchid sprays	Jasmine if near 12 August
September	Aster	Patience	Spray chrysanthemum or gerbera	A longer-lasting vase gift
October	Marigold	Warmth	Orange roses	Mixed, not marigold alone
November	Chrysanthemum	Longevity	Pink or mixed mums, or peony	Not all white; check the recipient
December	Narcissus	Good fortune	White-pink roses	A card; mind Christmas dates

The meanings are folklore and vary by source. On the card, say "traditionally" and move on.

Frequently asked questions

What is my birth flower?

Find your birth month in the table above. The commonly used list runs carnation, violet, daffodil, daisy, lily of the valley, rose, larkspur, gladiolus, aster, marigold, chrysanthemum and narcissus, from January to December. There is no official list of birth flowers by month: sources call it folklore, and some swap iris for February or poinsettia for December, so pick one and say which.

What if my birth flower is not available in Bangkok?

Send a substitute that keeps the colour, the shape or the mood, and say so on the card. White-pink roses stand in for lily of the valley, hydrangea for larkspur and orange roses for marigold. Ask when you order what is available that week, because imported stems come and go.

What are the January and November birth flowers?

The January birth flower is the carnation, with snowdrop as the other name. The November birth flower is the chrysanthemum, with peony as the alternative. Both are practical in Bangkok: carnations and mums last well, and November's cool season is the best time to buy them. Peony is imported, so ask about stock first.

Should birth month flowers arrive the night before or on the birthday?

The night before, if the person leaves early or you want the flowers on the table when they wake; the morning of, if they work from home or you want the surprise. For a last-minute order, bouquets up to 40 roses ordered by 9 pm Bangkok time go the same day, but no arrival time is promised, so the night before is the safer choice.

Can I send a birth flower gift of marigolds or chrysanthemums for a birthday in Thailand?

Yes, in a mixed bouquet. Marigold appears in Thai garlands and offerings, and chrysanthemum reads as a funeral flower in some traditions, so avoid sending either on its own or all in white for a birthday. For an older or temple-going recipient, ask a family member first. If you are unsure, ask us on LINE or WhatsApp and we will suggest a mix.