The language of flowers, - or floriography - was a serious Victorian preoccupation. At a time when expressing emotion openly was considered rather too much, flowers became a coded system. The type of flower, its colour, the way it was arranged: all of it carried meaning. Passion. Grief. Hope. The wish for someone's happiness.
Birth flowers grew from this tradition. Each month was assigned a flower with a specific meaning, a kind of quiet gift to the people born in that time. The tradition has softened and evolved over centuries, but the flowers endured. Here's what each one really carries, and why we chose to make them into necklaces.
January - Carnation: Love in all its forms
Carnations have been a symbol of love, admiration and loyalty for centuries. The meaning shifts with the colour: red for passion, pink for gratitude, white for pure affection. But the heart of it is devotion, given freely. We sculpted ours in soft pink, for that heartfelt warmth.
January Birth Flower Necklace →
February - Iris: The flower of the rainbow goddess
Iris was the Greek goddess who connected the human world to the divine via the rainbow. Her flower carries those meanings: faith, hope and the ability to communicate what others can't quite say. The iris was so beloved by the French royal family it became the fleur-de-lis. A February birth flower for people with vision and voice.
February Birth Flower Necklace →
March - Daffodil: Good things coming
In the Northern Hemisphere, daffodils are among the first to push through frozen ground after winter. A herald of what's ahead. Shakespeare loved them. They mean good fortune, luck and happiness, with the particular quality of someone who sees possibility before it's obvious. Our March necklace is in bright sunshine yellow. Exactly right.
April - Daisy: Innocence and the simple truth
The word daisy comes from 'day's eye'. It opens to the sun every morning and closes at night, faithful and uncomplicated. One of the oldest flowers grown alongside humans, the daisy carries meanings of innocence, sincerity and loyalty. Our April necklace is sculpted in the clearest, brightest white. As honest as the flower itself.
May - Lily of the Valley: Sweetness and motherhood
Almost melancholic in its delicacy. Drooping bell-shaped petals, a soft scent, a tendency to disappear as quickly as it arrived. The lily of the valley has been woven into mythology and motherhood for centuries: humility, maternity and sweetness. It's been in royal wedding bouquets from Queen Victoria onwards. For a May person, their flower is one of the most quietly profound in the calendar.
June - Rose: The oldest love letter
The rose has meant love for longer than written history, appearing in mythology from ancient Greece and Rome, cherished across cultures. Different colours carry different shades of that love: red for deep adoration, white for reverence, yellow for friendship. Our June necklace features a classic deep red rose. For the bonds that last.
July - Larkspur: An open heart
Larkspur is the birth flower fewer people know, which gives it a particular charm. Its tall spires reach upward and it means levity, an open heart, and a lightness of spirit. For a July person born in the depth of NZ winter, a flower that means openness and light feels like exactly the right thing.
August - Poppy: Memory and imagination
Poppies hold two meanings in interesting tension: remembrance and imagination. The red poppies of memory, the dreaming poppy fields of mythology, but also creativity and a visionary mind. August people often carry both, a long memory and a wide, reaching imagination.
The two, it turns out, feed each other.
August Birth Flower Necklace →
September - Aster: Patience and the star-flower
Named from the Greek word for star, the aster carries meanings of patience, hope and valour. Qualities that grow more interesting with age. Patience isn't just waiting: it's trusting while you wait. September in NZ is the beginning of spring, which feels exactly right for a flower that means hope.
September Birth Flower Necklace →
October - Marigold: The celebratory flower
Used in ceremonies across cultures for millennia. Guiding spirits home in Mexico. Adorning brides in India. Honoured by ancient Egyptians. The marigold means warmth, creativity and the courage to be visible. It's not a shy flower. October people often aren't either.
October Birth Flower Necklace →
November - Chrysanthemum: The flower that stays
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ntroduced to Japan in the 8th century and adopted as the Emperor's symbol. One of the four noble plants of the Chinese scholar. It blooms late, after most others have finished, which says everything about what it represents: loyalty, longevity, and the particular joy of someone who shows up again and again.
November Birth Flower Necklace →
December - Narcissus: Renewal at the turning of the year
Small, precise and quietly determined. The narcissus blooms in the heart of winter. Its meanings, hope, renewal and inner reflection, feel right for the turning of the year. For a December person, their flower carries the quality of someone who finds their way through and comes out the other side.
December Birth Flower Necklace →
Wearing the meaning
When we make a birth flower necklace, the meaning of the flower is part of what we're making. Each one is hand-sculpted and hand-painted in our Auckland studio with the real flower in mind. Not a generic floral shape, but that flower. If you'd like to see them all together, the full collection is here.
