Flowers of the Month: January Floriography

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Vase Carnations Snow-drops view of Japanese shrine by Teagan via Night Cafe

Hello, all.  I hope you’re enjoying a relaxing weekend.   Or if it isn’t that low-key, maybe you need a distraction — one that doesn’t require a lot of thought.  In that case, how about a little floriography trivia.  January in my location means wintry things. 

Snow-Leopard Victorian carnations owl by Teagan via night cafe

I wanted to add the January animal to this post… but nowadays, with both artificial intelligence parroting everything ever mentioned online and human misguidance messing with everything, the list of “animals associated with January” apparently includes half the animal kingdom.  I settled on the snow leopard. My model brought her owl (apparently also associated with January) friend along to help illustrate this post.

Flowers of the Month:  Carnation and Snowdrop

You’re familiar with birthstones, right?  For instance, if one is born in January their birthstone is the garnet.  There’s a similar thing where flowers are assigned to each month.  For January, the birth-month flower Carnation.  Along the way a secondary flower was assigned to each month, and for January that is the snowdrop.  The two photos below are from Pixabay.

Symbolism

Anna Armbrust Pixabay
Anna Armbrust at Pixabay
Carnation

Carnations are available in wonderful variety of colors.  Because of that, they also have broad symbolism.  Since this post is specifically about January, I’m limiting the meanings mentioned here.  Regarding January events, like birthdays or anniversaries, the carnation signifies distinction, fascination, loyalty, and love.

Snowdrop

snowdrops Pixabay

The fragile-looking snowdrop often emerges in late January, so it is associated with new beginnings.  It also signifies hope and purity.  Interestingly, it has been given to show either celebration or sympathy.

Carnation Oracle Card

Magic of Flowers by Tess Whitehurst

flowercarnation

For a little something extra, I’ve included an oracle card.  Differing from traditional symbolism, in the floral universe of Tess Whitehead, carnations carry meanings of heart-healing, perspective, longevity, and rebirth.  If you were to draw the carnation card from this deck, it would indicate a time of very powerful and positive transformation.  Your current changes will ultimately prove to be positive in very important ways.  Release the old to make room for the new, because some things that feel like challenges right now are actually sewing the seeds of great blessings.

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Wishing each of you a splendiferous new week.  Friendly comments are welcome.   Hugs!

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Here’s the obligatory shameless self-promotion.

Speak Flowers and Fans: a Dictionary of Floriography and Fanology

Universal Purchase Links

E-book:  relinks.me/B0FK3ZGNQT

Paperback:  relinks.me/B0FK3RH7LY

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Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved. 

This work is entirely human-written.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.

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81 thoughts on “Flowers of the Month: January Floriography”

  4. I love my book, Teagan, and have it next to my computer. The pages have a marvelous scent as it the flowers are breathing life into the words themselves. Sending many hugs on speedy wings to you and the Scoobies.

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  11. A beautiful and imaginative celebration of winter, Teagan! I love the snowdrops and enjoyed learning about their meaning. They are out in the woods here now and they always give the spirit a lift! Wishing you a good start to the week! 😊

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  12. I loved how you explore the symbolism behind January’s flowers — carnations with their themes of love, loyalty, and distinction, and snowdrops as gentle harbingers of hope and new beginnings — so I’m curious, which of these meanings resonates with you most right now and why?

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    1. Welcome, April. Thank you for reading and commenting. Actually, I was not able to resonate very well with either flower — I’ve never seen a snowdrop flower in person, and carnations (especially their fragrance) are a bad “trigger” for me from the death of my sister when we were children. There were so many carnations in the funeral home — all these years later, that’s still just about all I can think of with that flower. So… the part I resonate with is the Magic of Flowers oracle card. I like the thought that the very thing that hurts my heart might also be “heart-healing.” Sorry — that’s too much information, and not exactly a happy answer, but it is genuine. Hugs

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  14. I don’t ever remember seeing snowdrops this early, but they are certainly signs that spring is coming.
    That’s a wise Oracle card–it’s hard to let go, but you need to make space for change. (K)

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  16. Beautiful flowers for any month. I adore Carnations, and especially see how Snowdrops became January’s flower.

    Still we won’t see any Snowdrops here until March, if lucky. Although we saw a lot of snow dropping on us last week. The parked cars looked like disgruntled igloos.

    Love the art on the Carnation card, and what a fab interpretation.

    Thank you for shedding this bit of pretty on a cold, dark January day, Teagan!

    Hugs!

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  18. Carnations are big around these parts this time of year, Teagan. Mrs. B’s birthday month…and they have always been her favorite flower. That’s no reflection on the Snowdrop, which is a lovely New Year floral fashion all its own. Hugs for a great weekend.

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    1. Thanks, Liz. You suddenly caused me to wonder why I feel the same way. Maybe the Victorian gowns accentuate the inherent elegance of the animals, and cause me to compare it to the contrasts I see in myself. Lawsey… I’m getting too deep. Thanks for spending part of your Sunday here. Hugs.

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  22. There is not two better animals than the snow leopard and the snow owl. Bot bring to mins a purity and freshness. I didn’t realize the carnation was a January flower. It does seem righ in that most of them are grown in greenhouses. The snowdrops are lovely , too. Hugs for the week.

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  24. I like carnations a lot. There are so many colors, and they are welcome for any event or celebration. Snow drops – I like the name, but have never seen real ones, just pictures. So pretty though. 🙂

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  25. I love the snowdrop Teagan… It is a most delicate and pure flower, But it also shows its strength, for it pushes through the hardest of ground which is frozen to show us no matter what hardships are there, we can strive to push through and bloom…

    Sending love and Blessings this Sunday Teagan xx ❤

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  29. Thanks, Teagan for another beautiful post. I’m always happy to see an owl, even if it just came along for the ride. Carnations were very popular in Spain, although not so common now. I do love them and the card is gorgeous as well. Enjoy a wonderful month of January, Teagan! Big hugs and love to the Scoobies!

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  30. So true… half the flower kingdom too, for Birth Month Flowers, I have noticed. 😅 Larkspur for January, they say, and Water Lily… a bit odd somehow. I associate them both with summer months, in the Northern hemisphere, I mean. Lovely Tarot card with carnations, Teagan! About snowdrops… I so love photographing them, very photogenic! 😊

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    1. It’s lovely to see you, Daniel. Floriography is fascinating and whimsical — and we all need more whimsy. How funny that you should mention bees… One followed me into my house this morning. In January. Five minutes earlier I saw a coyote crossing my street. I felt like I was slipping into the Twilight Zone. 🙂 Hugs.

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      1. I don’t blame the bee for following you inside. Probably a lot warmer inside. Don’t let the coyote inside, it will invite all its friends in too. They are always fighting about what’s for lunch. 😁 🤗

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