September Birth Flower: The Aster

The September birth flower is the aster, with the morning glory as the common secondary flower. In the documented flower-meaning tradition it stands for love, patience, and remembrance. 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 September birth flower?

The September birth flower is the aster, and the morning glory 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

The aster is the standard birth flower for September, with the morning glory as the common secondary flower.

The aster takes its name from the Greek word for star, a reference to its rayed, star-shaped bloom. In flower-language tradition it stood for love, patience, and daintiness, and it was used as a remembrance flower placed on graves. Asters flower in late summer and early autumn, which fixes them to September.

The morning glory opens its trumpet flowers in the morning and closes them by afternoon. That short daily life gave it associations with affection and with the brevity of things in the flower tradition, and its autumn flowering placed it alongside the aster on the September list.

As a tattoo

As a tattoo, the aster’s many narrow petals give a full, star-shaped flower that suits both detailed realism and simpler line work. People choose it for a September birthday and for its remembrance meaning.

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.