August Birth Flowers: Gladiolus and Poppy

The August birth flowers are the gladiolus and the poppy. The gladiolus is a tall spike of funnel-shaped flowers that open from the bottom up above sword-like leaves. The poppy of the birthday lists is the red field poppy, with four thin petals on a wiry stem. By tradition the gladiolus stands for strength of character and the poppy for remembrance.

What is the birth flower for August?

August has two. The poppy is the older choice on American charts: a table of the months printed in 1913, in George Frederick Kunz's The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, gave August the poppy. The gladiolus, which became a popular garden flower in the United States around 1900, was added later. No official body set either one. Our guide to birth flowers by month lists every month.

Type a birth date below to see its flowers along with the birthstone, the zodiac sign and the day of the week.

Gladiolus: what it looks like and when it blooms

Gladiolus is a genus of more than 300 species in the iris family. According to NC State Extension, it comes from Africa, Madagascar and Eurasia. Garden glads are hybrids.

• Size. From 1 to 6 feet tall (30 cm to 1.8 m), depending on the variety.
• Leaves. Long, flat and pointed, in an upright fan. They gave the plant its name: gladius is Latin for "sword," and "sword lily" is its other common name.
• Flower. Funnel-shaped blooms along one side of the stalk, opening one at a time from the bottom to the top. Colors include white, cream, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple and green.
• Season. Mid to late summer, into fall.
• Root. It grows from a corm, a rounded, bulb-like base.

The first South African species reached Europe in the mid-1700s, and breeders in England began crossing them in the early 1800s.

Poppy: what it looks like and when it blooms

Many plants are called poppies. The one behind the August tradition is the corn poppy, Papaver rhoeas, also called the field poppy or Flanders poppy.

• Origin. Europe and Asia, where it is the common wildflower of grain fields.
• Size. A slender annual 9 to 18 inches tall (23 to 45 cm).
• Flower. Four thin, bright red petals, often with a dark blotch at the base. Buds hang down, then lift as they open. Each flower lasts only a day, but the plant makes many.
• Season. Spring and summer, sometimes again in fall.
• Habit. It seeds itself freely. NC State Extension notes that the seed can lie in the soil for decades and still sprout.

That last habit is the root of its modern meaning. The California poppy, the state flower of California, is a different plant with orange flowers.

What do the August birth flowers mean?

The meanings come from the Victorian language of flowers, in which each bloom carried a message and each dictionary had its own view. Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers (London, 1884) does not list the gladiolus at all, so its meanings below are the modern ones given by The Old Farmer's Almanac.

The gladiolus takes its meaning from its shape. Stories link it with Roman gladiators, and Victorian romantics said its pointed spike could pierce the heart, which gave it the sense of love at first sight. The Almanac also names it the flower for a 40th wedding anniversary.

The red poppy became the flower of remembrance after the First World War. Shelling and digging on the Western Front stirred up soil full of dormant seed, and poppies bloomed across the battlefields and graveyards. In 1915 the Canadian army doctor John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields," which opens with poppies blowing between rows of crosses.

• United States. The American Legion adopted the poppy as its memorial flower on September 27, 1920. Paper poppies are handed out around Memorial Day in May.
• Britain and the Commonwealth. Red paper poppies are worn for Remembrance Day, November 11.

All of these are traditions. They attach a story to a date and do not describe the people born in August.

Are gladioli safe around pets?

No. The ASPCA lists gladiolus as toxic to dogs, cats and horses. Signs are drooling, vomiting, lethargy and diarrhea. The highest concentration is in the corms.

• Keep vases where pets cannot chew the leaves or flowers.
• Store corms out of reach of pets and children.
• Do not use either August flower on food.
• If a pet eats part of the plant, call a veterinarian.

How to give August's birth flowers

• A tall bouquet. A few spikes in a tall, heavy vase make a full arrangement.
• Corms or seed. A bag of gladiolus corms or a packet of field poppy seed suits a gardener.
• A drawing, print or tattoo design. The gladiolus is drawn as a vertical spray: a line of open flowers below and tight buds above. The poppy is drawn as a bowl of four broad petals on a thin, bending stem, often with a nodding bud beside it.
• A remembrance gift. For someone who served or who lost a relative in war, the poppy carries a meaning that needs no card.
• With the stone. August's birthstones are peridot, spinel and sardonyx. See our August birthstone page.

How to keep gladioli fresh and grow your own

For the vase, University of Illinois Extension advises cutting about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from each stem with a clean, sharp blade, stripping leaves below the water line, and using a clean container with flower food. Change the water every two to three days, trim the stems again and remove faded flowers. Keep the vase at 65 to 72°F (18 to 22°C), away from heat and direct sun.

To grow glads, plant corms in full sun and rich, well-drained soil, sheltered from strong wind. Plant a new batch every couple of weeks to stretch the season. In cold regions the corms may need to be dug up and stored over winter.

Field poppies are sown from seed in full sun and then left to seed themselves.

Next in the calendar: September's aster and morning glory. Before it: July's larkspur and water lily.