December Birth Flowers: Narcissus and Holly Meanings

December babies get two birth flowers: the narcissus and the holly. That makes the December birth flower question more interesting than most months, because the pairing splits right down the middle. One is a fragrant white bloom that grows from a bulb on your windowsill in the middle of winter. The other is an evergreen shrub with bright red berries that never goes in a vase at all. Here's what each December birth flower means, why the month gets both, and how a florist turns them into an actual birthday gift.

December Birth Flowers at a Glance

• Narcissus: the main December birth flower, usually sold as the paperwhite. Meaning: hope, purity, good wishes, and rebirth. Blooming season: forced indoors in winter, outdoors in late winter to early spring. Best for: winter arrangements, bulb gardens, and gifts.

• Holly: the second December birth flower. Meaning: protection, domestic happiness, and goodwill. Season: evergreen year-round, with red berries at their brightest in winter. Best for: wreaths, garlands, and holiday decorations.

Like every birth month flower pairing, each brings a different kind of symbolism to the table. Some modern lists add the poinsettia as a third option, and we'll get to that below. But on the traditional birth flowers list, December belongs to the narcissus and the holly.

Why Does December Have Two Birth Flowers?

Birth month flowers go back centuries, and the version we use today was largely standardized by florists in the early twentieth century. Most months picked up two birth flowers along the way, usually one from American tradition and one from British custom, and December followed the pattern. December isn't unusual here. April pairs the daisy with the sweet pea, May pairs lily of the valley with hawthorn, July pairs larkspur with the water lily, and September pairs the aster with morning glory.

There's a practical logic to this pairing, too. December needed plants that actually look alive in December. The narcissus obliges by blooming indoors from a bulb when the garden is frozen solid, and holly is at its best exactly when every other plant has gone bare. Between the two, a December birthday never lacks something green and growing.

The Narcissus: December's Main Birth Flower

Botanically, the narcissus is a genus of flowering plants in the Amaryllidaceae family, native to the Mediterranean region, and daffodils and jonquils belong to the same clan. The one that claims December is almost always the paperwhite. Each bulb sends up clusters of small, fragrant white flowers, sometimes a dozen at a time, with petals so thin they look like paper. That's where the name comes from. People have grown these flowers since ancient times, and they've naturalized across Europe, Asia, and North America. More to the point for December: paperwhites will bloom in the dead of winter, no garden required.

The name Narcissus comes with baggage. In Greek mythology, he was the young man who fell for his own reflection in a pool and wasted away staring at it; the flowers that sprang up where he died took his name. The ancient Greeks meant it as a warning about vanity. The flower shook off the insult, though, and came to mean nearly the opposite: purity, faithfulness, and respect.

As a birth flower, the narcissus stands for hope, good wishes, new beginnings, and rebirth. In Victorian times, giving someone a single narcissus meant "you are the only one." In China, where the bulbs bloom in time for Lunar New Year, the flower is a symbol of good fortune, joy, and prosperity for the year ahead. Narcissus flowers pack a lot of symbolism into one small white bloom, and all of it suits a birthday at the close of the year.

Paperwhite or Daffodil?

Same genus, different birth month flower. The yellow daffodil is the March birth flower, blooming outdoors at the arrival of spring, with other daffodil varieties carrying the garden into late spring. December's narcissus is the paperwhite, which skips the garden calendar entirely and blooms indoors in winter. If you see yellow trumpets, think March. Clusters of small white flowers with a strong sweet fragrance, think December.

Growing Paperwhites Indoors

Paperwhites are the easiest bulbs a beginner can grow. Set them in a shallow bowl of pebbles and water, or in a pot of soilless mix, with the top third of each bulb exposed. Keep them somewhere cool and dark for two weeks while roots form, then move them into bright light. You'll have blooms in four to six weeks, which is why so many people start bulbs at Thanksgiving so they bloom indoors by Christmas. The same forcing trick works with tulips and hyacinths, but tulips need weeks of chilling first. Paperwhites skip that step, which makes them the fastest of the bunch and a popular flower for a beginner's winter bulb garden.

Two honest warnings from our designers. First, paperwhite stems grow tall and flop; give the plants a sunny window and turn the container daily to keep them straight. Second, that famous fragrance fills a room, strong and a little musky, and people either love it or really don't. If your December baby is sensitive to scent, gift a different bloom. The bulbs are also toxic if eaten, so keep them away from pets and toddlers.

The Holly: December's Second Birth Flower

Holly belongs to the Ilex genus of the Aquifoliaceae family, which counts more than 400 species, from low shrubs to trees over 50 feet tall. The classic Christmas holly has glossy dark green leaves with spiky, serrated edges and clusters of bright red berries. Here's a detail most people never learn: those red berries only appear on female plants, and only when a male holly grows nearby, so gardeners plant male and female holly together on purpose. A few species produce yellow or black berries instead. Native to North America, Europe, North Africa, and Asia, holly plants keep their color straight through the coldest winter months, which made them a natural emblem for December birthdays.

Holly Meaning and Symbolism

Holly's meanings run deeper than its decorating career. Across cultures it has stood for protection, domestic happiness, goodwill, and good fortune:

• In ancient Rome, holly branches were given as gifts during Saturnalia, the December festival, to ward off evil spirits.

• Druids in Britain hung holly in their homes at the winter solstice as a sign of renewal and life carrying on through the dark season.

• In Celtic folklore, the Holly King ruled the waning half of the year, from midsummer to midwinter.

• In Christian tradition, the spiky leaves came to represent the crown of thorns and the berries drops of blood, which cemented holly's place in Christmas celebrations.

• Planting a holly near the house was long believed to protect it from evil spirits and lightning strikes.

For a December birthday, holly's message reads as protection and good cheer, a fitting send-off for a new year of life.

Holly in History

Holly has a rich history in December celebrations, decorating homes for centuries before electric lights. American holly was named Delaware's state tree in 1939. The dense white wood has been carved into chess pieces and tool handles. And in the 1800s, the Duke of Argyll famously rerouted a planned road to spare an old holly tree. People have always gone out of their way for this plant.

Holly in the Garden

Holly plants are hardy and forgiving. Plant them in spring or fall in full sun and well-drained, slightly acidic soil, and they'll serve as hedges, borders, or foundation shrubs for decades. Trim larger varieties in late fall or early spring to hold their shape. The berries feed winter birds when little else is available, which is reason enough to grow one. One caution: holly berries and leaves are toxic to people and most pets, so decorate out of reach.

What About the Poinsettia?

Plenty of December lists now include the poinsettia, and it's easy to see why. The poinsettia blooms in December, wears the season's red and green, and fills every florist shop through the winter holidays, from Thanksgiving to New Year. Strictly speaking, the poinsettia is a holiday tradition rather than an official birth month flower, but nobody will fault you for treating it as one. Like most potted plants, a poinsettia brightens a room for weeks with basic care, which makes it a practical December birthday gift for someone who would rather tend plants than trim stems.

Narcissus or Holly: Which December Birth Flower Fits?

For a gift, the narcissus wins on practicality: it's an actual flower, it blooms indoors on cue, and a bowl of paperwhite bulbs costs less than most bouquets while lasting longer. Holly wins on story. It's the bolder emblem, all protection and bright red berries against dark green leaves, and it belongs on the door, the mantel, and the wrapping paper. Most December babies end up claiming both: the narcissus for hope, the holly for good fortune.

December Birth Flower Tattoos and Keepsakes

Birth month flower tattoos are having a moment, and December's pair gives you range. The narcissus makes elegant, minimal line art, a cluster of star-shaped blooms nodding toward their own reflection. A holly sprig with berries reads bolder and works beautifully in color. Beyond ink, December birth flower keepsakes pair either bloom with the month's birthstones, turquoise, zircon, and tanzanite, in jewelry, pressed-flower frames, or embroidered gifts.

Sending December Birth Flowers as a Bouquet

Here's the honest trade-off: neither December birth flower is a standard cut stem. Holly is greenery, not a flower a florist can build a bouquet around, and paperwhites bloom from bulbs rather than being sold as cut stems. So swap smart. A December birthday bouquet of white roses or white spray blooms with evergreen and berry accents captures both flowers at once, the narcissus's purity and holly's red-on-green, without a single prickly leaf. December birthdays share the month with the holidays, which works in your favor: every florist is stocked with evergreens and berries to celebrate with. Our designers have made that swap since 1903.

Every arrangement in our birthday flowers collection is arranged by a local florist near your recipient and hand-delivered, never boxed. Order by 2:00 PM Monday through Saturday, or 12:00 PM Sunday, in the recipient's time zone, and same-day flower delivery can have it there before the birthday dinner. And if the party falls near the holidays, our Christmas flowers lean into the evergreen-and-berries look December was made for.

Two Flowers to Close the Year

So the December birth flowers split the job. The narcissus brings hope, purity, and a bloom you can actually grow in the darkest month. Holly brings protection, good fortune, and the berries that make December look like December. Together they give the last birth month one of the richest pairings on the calendar.

December sits between two other winter birthdays. Read about the November birth flowers, chrysanthemum and peony, or jump ahead to the January birth flowers, carnation and snowdrop. And to see how all twelve months compare, start with our complete guide to birth flowers by month.