September has two birth flowers: the aster and the morning glory. One is a florist's flower, one is a garden climber, and in Australia both arrive at the wrong time of year.
September in Australia is the first month of spring, which puts us out of step with almost everything written about this month's birth flower. Northern hemisphere guides will tell you the aster is an autumn bloom. Here it is not, and that changes what you can realistically send someone. This is the full answer, with the Australian seasons accounted for.
The birth flower for September is the aster
September's birth flower is the aster, with the morning glory as its traditional alternative. The aster looks like a softer, daintier daisy: fine ray petals in purple, pink or white around a yellow eye, carried in branching sprays. It is the one you will actually find at a florist. The morning glory is a climbing vine, so it belongs to the garden rather than the vase.
Why September has two flowers
Most months carry two. The lists we use today were assembled in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from older European flower calendars, and different sources landed on different blooms. Where they disagreed, both names stuck. The aster is the widely accepted primary for September; the morning glory is the older alternative that survived alongside it. There is no official body settling this, which is why you will see the pair listed in either order. The same doubling shows up in almost every month of the year.
What the aster means
The aster stands for wisdom, faith and treasured affection. It was historically given as a way of saying "take care of yourself for me": a warm, looking-out-for-you sentiment that suits a thoughtful friend or family member rather than a romantic gesture.
Its name is the simplest story of the year. Aster is just the Greek word for star, after the shape of the bloom. Hand someone a bunch and you are quite literally giving them stars.
What the colours mean
- Purple, the most common and the most traditional: wisdom, and a note of royalty carried over from the dye's old associations.
- White: purity and new beginnings, which is why white asters turn up in both weddings and remembrance.
- Pink: sensitivity and tenderness, the gentlest of the four.
- Red: devotion and enduring love, the closest the aster gets to a romantic flower.
Hand someone a bunch, and you are giving them stars.
The morning glory, September's second flower
The morning glory (Ipomoea) is a trumpet-shaped climber that opens at first light and closes by afternoon. That single day of life gives it its meaning: affection, and the shortness of things worth loving. In the Victorian language of flowers it also carried unrequited love, which is a lot to hand somebody on a birthday.
Two practical notes. First, you will not be sent morning glory by a florist, because the blooms collapse within hours of cutting. Second, if you are thinking of planting one in Australia, check the species: blue morning glory (Ipomoea indica) is a declared environmental weed in parts of New South Wales and Queensland, where it smothers native bushland. Japanese morning glory grown as an annual in a pot is the safer choice.
September in Australia: what actually flowers here
This is the part the northern guides get wrong for us. In Britain and North America the aster is a Michaelmas daisy, flowering around Michaelmas on 29 September, at the end of summer. In Australia our garden asters flower in autumn, roughly March to May, and September is early spring.
The cut asters you can buy in September are China asters (Callistephus chinensis), a different genus grown commercially under cover and available across much of the year. So a September birthday can absolutely have asters. They are simply glasshouse-grown rather than picked from a spring garden.
If you would rather send something genuinely in season, September is the month of blossom, ranunculus, tulips at their tail end and wattle. Our guide to spring flowers in season in Australia covers what the growers are cutting, and Australian natives are at their best just as the aster's northern cousins are going over.
Aster, daisy or chrysanthemum?
All three sit in the same family, Asteraceae, which is why they look related and are constantly mistaken for one another. The quick test: a daisy carries one flower per stem with broad petals; a chrysanthemum has densely packed petals and a woody, sharply scented stem; an aster is finer than both, with narrow ray petals and several blooms branching off a single stem. If it looks like a small, many-petalled daisy in a spray, it is an aster. The chrysanthemum gets its own turn in November.
How to keep asters looking well
Asters are hardy and hold seven to ten days in the vase, which makes them generous value as a gift. They are also thirsty, so the water level matters more than with most stems.
- Recut the stems on an angle before they go in, and take off any leaves that would sit below the waterline.
- Change the water every second day. Asters foul water faster than roses and will droop when it turns.
- Keep them out of direct sun and away from the fruit bowl. Ripening fruit gives off ethylene, which ages flowers early.
- If a bloom wilts before the rest, it is usually an air lock. Recut that stem under running water and it will often come back.
September birth flower tattoos
The aster is one of the more popular birth flower tattoos, and there is a practical reason for it. Its narrow, evenly spaced ray petals hold their shape in fine line work at small sizes, where a peony or a rose turns into a blur. The star origin of the name gives an easy hook for a design, and asters combine neatly with a second month's flower in a paired piece. The morning glory suits a different brief: it is a vine, so it works trailing along a forearm or a spine rather than sitting as a single motif.
Giving them, and to whom
September birthdays fall under Virgo until the 22nd and Libra from the 23rd, and the aster suits both temperaments better than most flowers do: precise enough for one, balanced enough for the other. If you like the zodiac framing, our star sign blooms guide takes it further.
For a September birthday at the start of an Australian spring, a crisp, fresh vase arrangement feels in step with the season and needs nothing doing to it on arrival. A hand-tied bouquet is the better choice if the person likes to arrange things themselves. We deliver across the east coast, so a birthday can be marked with flowers in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane on the day.
A crisp white vase arrangement to match the first of spring.
The Monaco Arrangement White, from $99. Shop the Monaco →
The part they will remember
A handful of stars, given on purpose. If you want the gesture to land rather than simply arrive, our note on birthday flowers that feel thoughtful is worth two minutes.
Continue to the October birth flower, back to August, or explore the full birth month flowers guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is the birth flower for September?
The aster, with the morning glory as a traditional alternative. The aster is the more common, daisy-like cut flower and the one a florist will actually have.
Why does September have two flowers?
Birth flower lists were assembled from competing European flower calendars in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Where sources disagreed, both names stuck. No official body settles it, so most months carry a primary and an alternative.
What is the September birth flower in Australia?
The same as everywhere else, the aster, but the timing differs. In the northern hemisphere asters flower in early autumn. In Australia September is early spring, so garden asters here bloom in autumn and the cut asters sold in September are glasshouse-grown China asters.
What does the aster symbolise?
Wisdom, faith and treasured affection. It was traditionally given to mean "take care of yourself for me." Purple asters lean to wisdom, white to new beginnings, pink to tenderness and red to devotion.
What does the morning glory symbolise?
Affection and the brevity of things worth loving, because each bloom opens at dawn and closes by afternoon. In Victorian flower language it also stood for unrequited love.
Why is it called an aster?
"Aster" is the Greek word for star, after the flower's star-shaped bloom.
Do asters last well in a vase?
Yes. They generally hold seven to ten days, which makes them good-value cut flowers for a gift. Change the water every second day, as asters foul water faster than most stems.
Can you buy morning glory as a cut flower?
No. The blooms collapse within hours of cutting, so morning glory is a garden climber rather than a florist's flower.
