September Birth Flowers: Aster and Morning Glory
The aster means love, wisdom, patience and beauty, and the morning glory love both lasting and unreturned: together they are September's birth flowers.
Aster
| Scientific name | Aster (most North American asters are now Symphyotrichum) |
|---|---|
| Family | Aster family (Asteraceae) |
| Native to | Europe and Asia |
| Blooms | Late summer and early fall |
| Colors | White, pink, purple, red and blue, with yellow centers |
Aster color meanings
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Purple | Wisdom and royalty |
| White | Innocence |
| Red | Devotion |
| Pink | Love and kindness |
A star, a goddess's tears and an anniversary bouquet
- Aster is Greek for "star", for the shape of its flowers.
- Greek myth says asters grew from the tears of the goddess Astraea.
- Twentieth-anniversary bouquets traditionally use asters.
Morning Glory
| Scientific name | Ipomoea |
|---|---|
| Native to | Mexico and Central America (common morning glory) |
| Blooms | Early summer to the first frost |
| Colors | Blue, purple, pink, red and white |
Morning Glory color meanings
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blue | Enduring love |
| Purple | Grace and hope |
| Pink | Gratitude |
| Red | Passion and strength |
| White | Purity |
Yellowstone's pool and Georgia O'Keeffe
- Its flowers open in the morning and close by afternoon.
- Yellowstone's Morning Glory Pool was named in the 1880s for its likeness to the flower.
- Georgia O'Keeffe painted Blue Morning Glories in 1935.
Why asters go in a vase and morning glories on a trellis
Asters come as cut flowers, potted fall plants and garden perennials. Annual China asters are excellent cut flowers: in NC State trials, two cultivars averaged 17 and 20 days in the vase, and one lasted longest in plain water with no additives. China asters bloom from early summer into fall.
Asters are easy and late-flowering in rich, well-drained soil, and they are a useful nectar stop for migrating butterflies.
Morning glories are rarely used as cut flowers, because each bloom lasts only a day. A packet of seeds or a young plant makes a better gift. Soak the seeds in water for 24 hours before sowing to speed germination, and sow outdoors after the last frost, since the vines dislike transplanting. They reseed readily.
Morning glory vines need a trellis: they can climb 10 feet in a season, and they are invasive in some places.
Morning glory vines and flowers are toxic. The ASPCA notes vomiting in cats, dogs and horses, and possible hallucinations if an animal eats a lot of the seeds.
Blue sapphire, the September birthstone, pairs with a blue aster or a blue morning glory; its own page covers the other sapphire colors. Asters given for a wedding anniversary rather than a birthday? The Anniversary Calculator shows which one a couple is coming up to. The Birthday Calendar takes anniversaries alongside birthdays.
Birth flowers for other months
September Birth Flowers questions
What were the September birth flowers in 1907?
The morning glory or goldenrod, in the guest list for a June party in Dame Curtsey's book; the same book's birth-month calendar has the morning glory alone. Goldenrod has since dropped off, and the aster was then one of October's two choices.
Published October 12, 2026. Last updated October 28, 2026.