October birth flowers: marigold and cosmos
The traditional birth flowers for October, what they meant in the Victorian language of flowers, and how to grow them.
Pot marigold, or calendula
Calendula officinalis
A fast-growing annual with aromatic leaves and vivid orange or yellow daisy-like flowers over a long season, from summer into autumn until the first hard frost. (RHS)
The fuller, frilly orange marigolds sold in many US garden centers are Tagetes, a different plant.
In the language of flowers
“Grief” (Greenaway, Dumont). Dumont adds a gentler reading: “interwoven with other flowers, the varied events of life; the cloud and sunshine of ill and good.”
Growing it
Grow in full sun or light shade in well-drained soil; it does well even in poor, dry soil. Deadhead to keep it flowering. The petals are edible, and it’s hardy in most places in the UK.
Sources: RHS, Missouri Botanical Garden
Cosmos (the RHS calls it cosmea)
Cosmos bipinnatus
A tall annual with fine, feathery leaves and large, open, daisy-like flowers in pink, white and deep rose with yellow centers, from late summer until frost. (RHS)
In the language of flowers
The Victorian dictionaries have no entry for cosmos. Its name is from Greek kosmos, “order” or “ornament”.
Today it’s often linked with harmony and peace. This is a modern association, from current florists: Floraly, Bloom & Wild.
Growing it
Sow after the last frost in full sun and average, well-drained soil; rich soil gives leaves rather than flowers. Deadhead to keep it flowering; it’s grown as an annual and flowers until the first frosts.
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.