November Birth Flower: The Chrysanthemum and What It Means

The November birth flower is the chrysanthemum, the "mum" that fills garden centres and front steps across Canada every fall. It's one of the few flowers still in full colour when the leaves are down, which is probably how it earned the month.

This guide covers what chrysanthemums mean, how the meaning changes with colour and with culture, and how to choose a November birthday bouquet. If you'd rather go straight to the flowers, our chrysanthemum guide lists every arrangement we deliver that includes them.

What is the birth flower for November?

Chrysanthemums are November's birth flower in Canada, the US and the UK. Some lists add the peony as a secondary flower, but most stop at the chrysanthemum, and it's the one florists use.

The name comes from the Greek chrysos (gold) and anthemon (flower). The first cultivated mums were yellow, grown in China more than 2,500 years ago. Today they come in hundreds of forms, from the big single-headed "disbud" blooms to the small button and pompom sprays that turn up in mixed bouquets. Our button pom guide covers that smaller style.

Chrysanthemum flower meaning

In North America, the chrysanthemum stands for friendship, optimism, joy and long life. It's an easy, cheerful flower to give, and that's how most Canadians read it.

Its meaning changes as you travel, though, and that's worth knowing before you send one:

• China: one of the "Four Gentlemen" of Chinese art, a symbol of nobility, longevity and endurance. The Double Ninth Festival is celebrated with chrysanthemum wine.
• Japan: the flower of the Imperial family. The Chrysanthemum Throne is the name for the monarchy, and a stylised mum appears on Japanese passports.
• France, Italy, Belgium, Spain and much of Europe: a flower of mourning. Families place pots of chrysanthemums on graves for All Saints' Day on November 1, and many people won't have them in the house otherwise.
• Australia: the traditional Mother's Day flower, because "mum".

So if the birthday person grew up in France, Italy or Belgium, choose a mixed bouquet where the mums are an accent, or skip them for a different autumn flower. Everyone else will just see a cheerful bunch of fall colour.

Chrysanthemum meaning by colour

Colour shifts the message. These are the common Western readings:

• Yellow: joy, friendship and warmth. In the Victorian language of flowers it meant slighted love, but almost nobody reads it that way now.
• Red: love and deep passion. A good choice for a partner's November birthday.
• White: loyalty, honesty and truth. White is also the mourning colour in much of Asia and Europe, so it suits sympathy flowers better than birthdays.
• Orange and bronze: enthusiasm and warmth, the classic autumn shades.
• Purple: thoughtfulness and good wishes, and often a get-well choice.
• Pink: gentle affection, and a soft choice for a mother or grandmother.

Choosing a November birthday bouquet

Mums play well with other autumn flowers, so a November bouquet doesn't need to be all chrysanthemums. A few combinations that work:

• Bronze and yellow mums with roses and alstroemeria, for a warm fall look. The Bright Autumn Centerpiece works the same palette as a table arrangement.
• A chrysanthemum-led vase for someone who loves them. Our Chrysanthemum Arrangement keeps them front and centre.
• Mums as an accent in a bright mixed bouquet for anyone with a European background, or anyone who'd rather not have a vase of nothing but mums.

The second birth flower some lists give for November is the peony, but peonies are a May-to-June flower in Canada and hard to find in November. Mums are in season, at their best, and among the longest-lasting cut flowers you can send.

How long do chrysanthemums last?

Cut chrysanthemums are among the longest-lived flowers in any bouquet: often two to three weeks in a vase with fresh water. Recut the stems every few days, pull off any leaves below the waterline, and keep the vase away from heat vents and fruit bowls. Our vase life guide covers the details.

One caution: chrysanthemums are mildly toxic to cats and dogs, usually causing drooling or an upset stomach. If the birthday person has pets, see our list of flowers safe for cats.

Garden mums and florist mums

The potted mums sold at Canadian garden centres each September are mostly bred for one season of colour. Many won't survive a prairie or northern winter in the ground, though hardy varieties often come back in milder parts of Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes and BC. Florist chrysanthemums are a different crop: grown in greenhouses for long stems and a long vase life, in shapes you rarely see in a garden, like spider mums, cremons and green button poms.

So if the November birthday person is a gardener, a cut bouquet won't compete with their porch planters. It brings the same flower indoors in forms they probably don't grow.

What to write on the card

A line about the flower's meaning turns a November birthday bouquet into something more personal. A few to borrow:

• "Happy birthday! Chrysanthemums are your birth flower, and they stand for friendship and joy, which sounds about right."
• "For the friend who stays bright when everything else goes grey. Happy November birthday."
• "Mums for long life and good cheer. Here's to many more."
• "Your birth flower blooms when everything else has given up. That's you."

Sending a November birthday bouquet anywhere in Canada

Flowers on Demand delivers across every province and territory through a network of local florists, who arrange and hand-deliver each order. Delivery is a flat $19.99. For same-day delivery, order before 1:00 PM in the recipient's time zone, Monday to Saturday; there's no Sunday delivery.

Start with our birthday flowers, or find the town you're sending to on our delivery cities page. Local florists occasionally swap a stem for one of similar style and value when a flower is short, so if one flower matters most, say so in the card or delivery note.

Other birth month flowers

Chrysanthemums close out the autumn months, after the October birth flower (marigold and cosmos). For the next birthdays on the calendar, see the December birth flower (narcissus and holly) and the January birth flower (carnation and snowdrop), or browse all twelve in our birth month flowers guide.