Is the August Birth Flower Gladiolus or Poppy?
Most sources treat gladiolus as August’s primary birth flower and poppy as the secondary one, rather than treating the question as an either/or choice. You’ll sometimes see poppy listed first on certain sites, but the gladiolus-primary, poppy-secondary order is the one repeated most consistently across florist guides and almanacs we reviewed. As with most two-flower months, think of it less as a contest and more as two flowers that both belong to August, each carrying a different mood.
Gladiolus: Meaning, History, and Colors
Gladiolus (sometimes called “sword lily” for its tall, blade-shaped leaves) takes its name from the Latin gladius, meaning sword. The flower is generally associated with strength, integrity, and remembrance, and in the Victorian language of flowers, giving gladiolus reportedly signaled that the recipient had “pierced the giver’s heart” — a dramatic turn of phrase repeated across several flower-meaning sources, though its exact origin is hard to trace with certainty.
Color shifts the message somewhat in most guides: red and pink lean toward passion, white toward purity and sincerity, purple toward charm, and yellow toward friendship. There are reportedly more than 260 gladiolus species and thousands of registered cultivars, so the color range available to gardeners and florists is wide.
Growing Gladiolus
Gladiolus grows from corms (bulb-like underground storage structures) and produces tall, mostly unbranched flower spikes that can reach 2 to 6 feet depending on variety. It prefers full sun and well-draining, fertile soil, and it’s generally hardy in USDA zones 8–10 as a perennial — in colder zones, gardeners typically lift and store the corms over winter and replant in spring, following roughly the same spring-planting, fall-digging cycle covered in our flower bulb planting guide. Because each spike opens its blooms gradually from the bottom up, staggering planting every couple of weeks through late spring can stretch the bloom season into late summer.
Poppy: Meaning, History, and Colors
Poppy is generally associated with remembrance, rest, and imagination. The remembrance association grew largely out of the World War I poem “In Flanders Fields,” which described red poppies growing over soldiers’ graves, and that connection is widely cited as the reason the red poppy became a symbol used around Remembrance Day and Memorial Day observances in several countries (see our flowers that symbolize death, mourning and loss guide for how this fits alongside other remembrance flowers).
It’s worth being accurate here: the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is a specific species with a long history of medicinal and narcotic use, but it’s a different variety from most ornamental garden poppies grown for color (such as Oriental poppy or Shirley poppy). Having poppies in a garden border doesn’t mean growing anything narcotic — but it’s a detail worth knowing if the topic comes up.
Growing Poppies
Poppy hardiness varies quite a bit by species — Oriental poppy is generally hardy in USDA zones 3–8, while California poppy suits warmer zones 8–10. Most poppies prefer full sun and well-draining soil, and they tend to bloom from late spring into early summer. Because their thin, crepe-like petals bruise and shed easily, poppies are more often used in mixed arrangements than as a standalone cut-flower bouquet.
Why Does August Have Two Birth Flowers?
The most commonly repeated explanation is that birth-flower traditions grew from several overlapping historical lists that were never fully merged into one standard, and that having two options gives more flexibility — both in symbolism (bold vs. reflective) and in seasonal or regional availability. This is consistent with the pattern seen across other two-flower months; see our guide to birth flowers by month for how this plays out across the calendar.
Is Gladiolus Also the Virgo Zodiac Flower?
Some zodiac-flower guides list sunflower as the Virgo zodiac flower, while chrysanthemum (tied to Virgo’s September range in some systems) shows up in others — sources disagree here, and zodiac flower assignments vary more than birth-month flower lists do. Gladiolus is generally discussed as the August birth-month flower rather than a specific zodiac sign’s flower, so if you’ve seen it called “the Virgo flower” somewhere, treat that as one source’s interpretation rather than a widely agreed fact. For a closer look at how zodiac flower traditions work (using a different sign as an example), see our Aquarius birth flower guide.
Gifting and Caring for August Birth Flowers
For a gift that lasts, gladiolus is the more practical cut flower: trim stems at an angle, change the vase water every couple of days, and remove spent lower blooms as the spike opens upward. Poppies bruise easily and don’t travel as well, so they tend to work best mixed into a larger arrangement rather than given alone. Keeping either flower away from ripening fruit nearby can help slow wilting, since fruit releases ethylene gas as it ripens.
FAQ
What is the true August birth flower? Most sources list gladiolus as the primary August birth flower, with poppy as a widely cited secondary flower — there isn’t a single governing authority that makes one “more official” than the other.
What is the birth flower for August? Gladiolus and poppy are both commonly cited as August’s birth flowers.
Why are there two August birth flowers? Most explanations point to overlapping historical lists and a desire to offer more symbolic and seasonal flexibility, rather than one specific documented cause.
What is the official flower for Virgo? Zodiac flower lists disagree here more than birth-month lists do; sunflower and chrysanthemum both appear across different sources.