August birth flowers: gladiolus and poppy
The traditional birth flowers for August, what they meant in the Victorian language of flowers, and how to grow them.
Gladiolus
Gladiolus (garden hybrids)
Tall spikes of funnel-shaped flowers that open from the bottom up, above sword-shaped leaves, in late summer. (RHS; Missouri Botanical Garden)
In the language of flowers
The Victorian dictionaries have no entry for gladiolus. Its name is Latin for “small sword”, after the leaves.
Today it’s often linked with strength and integrity. This is a modern association, from current florists: Farmers’ Almanac, Bloom & Wild.
Growing it
Plant corms in full sun and well-drained soil rich in organic matter, sheltered from strong wind. They flower in August and September in Missouri. Many garden hybrids aren’t fully hardy: in most of the UK, and in the US outside USDA zones 7 to 10, lift the corms in autumn and store them dry and frost-free.
Sources: RHS, Missouri Botanical Garden
Corn poppy (in the UK, common or field poppy)
Papaver rhoeas
An annual up to 90cm tall with bright scarlet, bowl-shaped flowers, sometimes with a black mark at the base of each petal, in summer. (RHS)
In the language of flowers
“Consolation” (Greenaway, for the red poppy; Dumont).
Growing it
Sow in spring where it’s to flower, in full sun and well-drained soil; seedlings don’t like being moved. It flowers from June to August in Missouri, does best in cool summers, and often seeds itself.
Sources: RHS, Missouri Botanical Garden
About birth flowers
Birth flowers are a tradition, not a rule: lists vary a little, and no one body sets them. The meanings here come from two Victorian flower dictionaries, Kate Greenaway’s Language of Flowers (1884) and Henrietta Dumont’s The Language of Flowers (1851). Both are free to read on Project Gutenberg.
How each flower looks and grows comes from the Royal Horticultural Society and the Missouri Botanical Garden, linked under each flower. Where US and UK names differ, the US name comes first.