July Birth Flowers: Larkspur and Water Lily Meanings
July has two birth flowers, the larkspur and the water lily. One is a tall garden spike that florists use all summer, and one is a pond plant that never touches a vase. Between them, the July birth flowers cover an open heart, positivity, and purity, which is a generous set of meanings for July birthdays.
Below you'll find what each July birth flower means, where the names came from, and an honest note on which one actually works in a birthday bouquet.
The Larkspur: July's First Birth Flower
Larkspur is the classic July bloom, a staple of cottage gardens that sends up spires of blue, purple, pink, or white. It's a close cousin of delphinium, and the two names get used interchangeably at flower shops, though botanists file annual larkspur under Consolida and the perennials under the genus Delphinium. It typically blooms from late spring through early summer, and in cooler regions some varieties keep going into early fall.
Greek mythology gives larkspur a dramatic origin story. After the warrior Ajax died at Troy, small blue flowers were said to have sprung up where his blood fell, and those became the larkspur. That's a heavy legend for such a cheerful stem, which may be why the Victorians softened its meaning to lightness, an open heart, and strong bonds of love.
Brief History and Name Origin of Larkspur
The name is pure bird-watching. The back of each blossom narrows into a long spur that reminded English gardeners of the claw of a lark, so the plant picked up folk names like lark's heel, lark's claw, and knight's spur. Delphinium has its own animal hiding in it: the name comes from the Greek word for dolphin, because the unopened flower buds look a bit like a dolphin's nose. Tudor-era herbals list several of these nicknames, and a few still show up in seed catalogs today.
July birthday flowers built around larkspur read as summery and a little wild, closer to a garden armful than a formal centerpiece.
Larkspur Colors and Their Meanings
Like most birth month flowers, larkspur changes its message with its color. Pink larkspur historically stood for fickleness, so it's the one shade to skip for a romantic note. White larkspur stands for a happy, easygoing nature. Purple larkspur leans toward first love, and blue, the most common shade, carries dignity and grace.
Blue is the color to reach for if you want the flower recognized on sight. True-blue flowers are rare, and larkspur is one of the few that delivers it naturally.
The Water Lily: July's Second Birth Flower
The water lily is July's second official bloom, and it works differently from every other birth flower because it grows on water. Water lilies are aquatic plants in the Nymphaeaceae family, at home in ponds and slow moving water across North and South America, with round leaves that rest right on the water's surface. The blossoms open with the morning sun and close at night for three or four days, then sink back below the surface. That daily cycle made the water lily a symbol of rebirth, new beginnings, purity, and enlightenment.
The flower has serious cultural credentials. The ancient Egyptians held the blue water lily sacred to the sun, in Hindu and Buddhist art its cousin the lotus stands for awakening, and Claude Monet spent the last three decades of his life painting water lilies at Giverny. Most varieties are white, though pink water lilies, yellows, and blues exist too. Hardy water lilies come back every year in cold climates, while tropical water lilies need warm water and carry the richest blues and purples.
If your July birthday person is the calm, contemplative type, the water lily is their flower on paper. Getting it into a vase is another matter, which brings us to the practical part.
Which July Birth Flower Works in a Bouquet?
Here's the part most July guides skip. Water lilies aren't cut flowers. They live in ponds and water gardens, their stems can't drink from a vase, and the blooms close up within days, so no florist builds floral arrangements around them. Larkspur is the opposite: it peaks in summer, holds up in a vase for about a week, and gives a bouquet instant height. When people order larkspur, what usually arrives is its fuller cousin delphinium, which carries the same look and the same meaning.
A quick safety note: larkspur and delphinium are toxic if eaten, and the ASPCA lists delphinium as toxic to cats and dogs. Cut stems in a vase are a lower risk than a garden bed, but keep them out of reach of a determined chewer.
If a specific stem is out of season on delivery day, our designers substitute blooms of equal or greater value, so the bouquet still arrives full. Same-day delivery is available on orders placed by 2:00 PM Monday through Saturday, or 12:00 PM on Sunday, in the recipient's local time zone, and tall blue stems mix easily with the rest of our summer arrangements.
July Birth Month: Zodiac Sign and Birthstone
Most of July belongs to Cancer (June 21 to July 22), the zodiac's homebody: intuitive, loyal, and protective of the people they love. Late-July birthdays cross into Leo. Either way, a bold bouquet with real height suits the season.
July's birthstone is the ruby, one of the most valuable colored gemstones. Red stones next to blue or purple larkspur make an easy, striking pairing if you want to nod to both traditions in one gift.
Larkspur and water lily share July, but every month has its own pair. Meet all twelve birth month flowers in our birth flowers by month guide, or visit a neighbor: June's rose and honeysuckle or August's gladiolus and poppy.