November: Birth Flowers and Birth Stones

In the US, people assign flowers and stones to different months. People will give someone gifts inspired by these monthly symbols. 

For a variety of reasons, including cost and availability, alternate or secondary symbols have been assigned. 

November Birth Flowers

• Chrysanthemum (Mums)
• Peony

Chrysanthemums bloom in autumn when most other plants are going dormant. They also are tolerant of growing conditions in much of Europe and North America. This makes mums an easy choice for a November birth flower.

Peonies typically don’t bloom in the fall, but they do have large, showy flowers. Peonies are also good cut flowers and hold up well in arrangements. Perhaps that is why they are an alternate November birth flower. 

November Birthstones

• Topaz
• Citrine

Topaz and citrine are thought of as yellow gemstones. That makes yellow the color for November. In the Northern Hemisphere, that makes sense. Many leaves turn yellow by November. More than any other time of the year, there is a lot of yellow in nature.

It’s interesting to know what symbols are attached to the month of your birth, but if you dislike the symbol, it can be hard to convince people to give you presents without it.

Then again, not everyone cares about birthstones and birth flowers. For some, these assignments are old-fashioned and best used as a curiosity.

This week, there will be 6 Facts posts for topaz, citrine, chrysanthemums (mums), and peonies.