Zodiac sign flowers are a loose, popular tradition: lists differ, and no single authority sets them. One widely shared list, the Old Farmer's Almanac's, pairs Aries with honeysuckle, Taurus with poppy, Gemini with lavender, Cancer with white rose, Leo with sunflower, Virgo with buttercup, Libra with rose, Scorpio with geranium, Sagittarius with carnation, Capricorn with pansy, Aquarius with orchid and Pisces with water lily. Birth flowers by month are a separate tradition, with a different list.
Zodiac flowers at a glance
| Sign | Flower often associated | Second choices |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | Honeysuckle | Tulip |
| Taurus | Poppy | Lily of the valley |
| Gemini | Lavender | Lilac |
| Cancer | White rose | Moonflower |
| Leo | Sunflower | Marigold |
| Virgo | Buttercup | Chrysanthemum |
| Libra | Rose | Dahlia, peony |
| Scorpio | Geranium | Gardenia |
| Sagittarius | Carnation | Bird of paradise |
| Capricorn | Pansy | Red rose |
| Aquarius | Orchid | Tiger lily |
| Pisces | Water lily | Lotus |
That's one list among many. Florists, magazines and gardening sites often swap entries, so you'll find the same sign paired with other flowers elsewhere, and none of them is wrong. If you're not sure which sign is yours, our guide to what your zodiac sign is has the dates.
Why the lists disagree
There's no ancient source behind a modern zodiac flower list. Most are put together by writers and florists working from one of three logics, and different logics give different answers.
- The ruling planet. Leo, ruled by the Sun, gets the sunflower. Cancer, ruled by the Moon, gets the moonflower, which opens in the evening. Libra and Taurus, both ruled by Venus, get roses and other classic romantic flowers.
- The season. Some lists choose a flower that blooms during the sign's weeks in the northern hemisphere: spring bulbs for Aries and Taurus, summer flowers for Leo, chrysanthemums for the autumn signs.
- The character. The pansy, tough enough to flower through cold weather, suits steady Capricorn. The water lily suits watery Pisces, and the poppy, a flower of remembrance, suits loyal Taurus.
Our guide to the ruling planets of the zodiac signs explains the first of those threads in more detail.
The older tradition: plants ruled by planets
Herbalists and astrologers did link plants to the sky for centuries, but mostly through the planets rather than the twelve signs. The best-known English example is Nicholas Culpeper's herbal of 1653, which gave each plant a planetary ruler and sometimes a sign as well.
Some of Culpeper's choices line up with the modern lists surprisingly well.
- Marigold: "an herb of the Sun, and under Leo", which sits nicely with today's Leo flowers.
- Lavender: "Mercury owns the herb", and Gemini, Mercury's sign, gets lavender today.
- Carnations, which he knew by their old name of clove gillyflowers, he placed under Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius.
- Roses he divided by color, with a joke at the expense of his fellow herbalists: "red Roses are under Jupiter, Damask under Venus, White under the Moon, and Provence under the King of France." The white rose for Moon-ruled Cancer and the rose for Venus-ruled Libra both survive on modern lists.
Others don't line up at all. He put rosemary under "the celestial Ram", Aries, though rosemary doesn't appear on the Almanac's list at all. And he described honeysuckle as an herb of Mercury over which "the celestial Crab", Cancer, claims dominion, while modern lists give honeysuckle to Aries.
Culpeper was writing herbal medicine for his own time, and his remedies aren't advice to follow today. His rulerships simply show that plant associations have always depended on who was drawing up the list.
Zodiac flowers vs birth flowers by month
Birth flowers follow the calendar month, as birthstones do, not the sign. The Old Farmer's Almanac gives:
- January: carnation and snowdrop
- February: violet and primrose
- March: daffodil and jonquil
- April: daisy and sweet pea
- May: lily of the valley and hawthorn
- June: rose and honeysuckle
- July: larkspur and water lily
- August: gladiolus and poppy
- September: aster and morning glory
- October: marigold and cosmos
- November: chrysanthemum
- December: narcissus and holly
Because each month is split between two signs, your birth flower and your zodiac flower can come from quite different places. A July 30 birthday, for instance, has larkspur as its birth flower and the sunflower as its Leo flower. Our guide to zodiac signs by month shows which two signs share each month, and our birthstones by month list covers the stone tradition. Birth-month flower lists follow northern-hemisphere seasons, and they vary a little between countries too.
Giving or growing your sign's flower
A few ways to use a sign flower without overthinking it:
- Birthday bouquets. Combine the zodiac flower with the birth-month flower. A Libra born in early October might get roses with marigolds or cosmos; a Scorpio born in November, geraniums with chrysanthemums.
- A sign garden. Plant your sign's flower, or one for each person in the household, and see who wins the summer. Some gardeners like to time their sowing by the Moon, a folk practice our guide to gardening by the Moon describes.
- A color match. Many sign flowers share the colors linked with the sign, so our guide to zodiac sign colors can help with the ribbon, the vase or the card.
One practical note: several flowers on these lists are toxic to pets. Tiger lilies are dangerous to cats, and lily of the valley is poisonous to cats and dogs, so check before you bring a bouquet into a house with animals.
Questions readers ask
What is my zodiac flower?
Find your sign in the table above and take your pick of the first or second choice. If a flower from another list suits you better, use that one. There's no official answer.
Is my zodiac flower the same as my birth flower?
No. Zodiac flowers follow your sign and birth flowers follow your calendar month. Since every month holds two signs, the two lists rarely line up neatly.
What flower represents Scorpio?
On the Almanac's list it's the geranium, with the gardenia as a second choice. Deep reds and dark purples suit the sign's usual colors, whichever bloom you choose.
Which zodiac sign is the rose?
On the Almanac's list the rose belongs to Libra, with the red rose as a second choice for Capricorn and the white rose as Cancer's flower. Roses turn up on so many lists because Venus, the planet of love and beauty, rules both Libra and Taurus.
Can I choose a flower for my Moon or rising sign instead?
Yes. Many people relate more to their Moon or rising sign than to their Sun sign, and there's no rule against picking a flower to match. A free birth chart shows both signs.
