July Birth Flower: The Larkspur

The July birth flower is the larkspur, with the water lily as the common secondary flower. In the documented flower-meaning tradition it stands for an open heart, lightness, and strong attachment. The associations below follow the standard English-language birth-flower list and the Victorian language of flowers, not personal or spiritual interpretation.

What is the July birth flower?

The July birth flower is the larkspur, and the water lily is the commonly listed secondary flower for the month. This follows the widely used English-language birth-flower list maintained by florist associations and almanac references.

Symbolism and history

Larkspur (Delphinium) is the standard birth flower for July, with the water lily as the common secondary flower.

Larkspur sends up tall spikes of summer flowers in blue, purple, pink, and white. The Victorian language of flowers tied it to an open heart and to lightness of spirit, and color shaded the reading, with pink larkspur signaling fickleness and white a happy nature. The plant is toxic, a practical caution that sits beside its cheerful floral meaning.

The water lily carried associations of purity and of the heart in several traditions, drawn from the way the bloom rises clean from muddy water. Both plants sit at the height of summer, which fixes them to July in the standard list.

As a tattoo

As a tattoo, larkspur gives a tall vertical line of stacked blooms that suits forearm, spine, and calf placements. Its color range makes it flexible for both bold and soft palettes, and people choose it to mark a July birthday.

Sources

• Society of American Florists: birth flower by month reference list.
• Greenaway, Kate. Language of Flowers. George Routledge and Sons, 1884. Source for the Victorian flower-meaning assignments cited here.
• Old Farmer’s Almanac: birth flowers of the months reference.
• Royal Horticultural Society plant profiles: botanical names, flowering seasons, and toxicity notes for the species named here.