Mexican flowers lend their natural beauty to homes, businesses, occasions, and events worldwide. You’ll find flowers native to Mexico across the United States and Canada, perhaps even in your own home garden.
In this article, we want to introduce you to the most popular Mexican flowers, their significance in Mexican culture, how to recognize them, and when they bloom. Keep reading to learn all about Mexico’s most beautiful native flowers from our flower pros at The Bouqs Co. so the next time you send flowers online, you’ll know more about which flowers to pick.
Native Mexican Flowers
Flowers play an essential role in Mexican culture. They decorate homes during Christmas and streets during annual festivals like the Day of the Dead and the Feast of Xochiquetzal. You’ll find popular flowers in home gardens, spas, cemeteries, parks, places of worship, and, of course, in nature.
Many flowers native to Mexico hold special meanings and significance within the culture, some representing Aztec deities. The three most recognizable Mexican flowers include dahlias, poinsettias, and yucca flowers, but many others prove popular across North America.
1. Dahlia (Dahlia Pinnata)
As the national flower of Mexico, the dahlia remains the most popular Mexican flower. Its cultural significance dates back to the Aztecs, who used dahlia tubers as a food source and for epilepsy treatment. You can still commonly find dahlias in salads today.
These gorgeous flowers grow in symmetrical circles, often in dual tones of white, purple, pink, red, peach, or orange. Dahlias bloom in the summer season and into early autumn. They represent elegance and dignity and have been the national flower of Mexico since 1963.
You’ll find these popular flowers across Mexico as well as in U.S. regions with warm climates like southern California. You can order a dahlia bouquet with us and send these beautiful flowers for any occasion.
2. Poinsettia (Euphorbia Pulcherrima)
Most recognizable as a Christmas plant, poinsettias feature bright red leaves used for medicinal and beauty purposes, most commonly as a dye for clothing. Poinsettias symbolize the star of Bethlehem in the Christian faith and have consequently become a standard decoration during winter holidays.
Poinsettias bloom during late autumn and early winter. Although often red, this plant also grows in other colors, including orange, white, and pink. A very recognizable Mexican plant, poinsettias prove unique because the colorful parts are the foliage rather than colorful flowers.
3. Yucca Flower (Yucca Baccata)
The yucca plant produces clusters of white bell-shaped blossoms that delight the eyes and the nose. It also grows fruit similar to bananas and is sometimes called banana yucca. These sweet-smelling Mexican flowers bloom during the summer months.
They symbolize purification and protection and boast medicinal properties. You can recognize yucca plants by the straight-leafed green bush and large vertical clusters of white flowers that grow above the foliage.
4. Chocolate Cosmos (Cosmos Atrosanguineus)
Chocolate cosmos flowers remain popular thanks to their rich, dark colors. These distinctive Mexican blooms boast beautiful dark red, purple, and brown petals and a pleasant cocoa scent.
Flowering during the summer season, they symbolize beauty and order. Although these flowers may smell good enough to eat,
doing so is not recommended.
5. Laelia Orchid (Laelia Rubescens)
The Laelia orchid’s lovely appearance and unique growing habits make it a clear favorite among Mexicans and others around the world. This stunning Mexican orchid (also known as the rosy-tinted laelia) grows on trees and rocks in its natural habitat rather than in soil as other flowers prefer.
The Laelia orchid produces light purple and pink blossoms, and Mexicans love these unusual flowers as home decorations. Blooming year-round, Laelia orchids represent luxury, beauty, and love.
6. Mexican Passion Flower (Passiflora Mexicana)
The Mexican passion flower grows from the same vine as passion fruit. These distinctive flowers in Mexico feature an interesting petal pattern, either in shades of yellow and purple or red and green. Thread-like petals radiate from the flower center, giving the Mexican passion flower its memorable appearance.
These Mexican flowers symbolize the death of Christ and bloom in the late summer season. Some consider the strong scent of the Mexican passion flower unpleasant.
7. Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia Diversifolia)
The Mexican sunflower grows on shrubs and produces daisy-like petals in shades of bright yellow, orange, and red. They aid in pollination by attracting butterflies. You can find Mexican sunflowers in nature in the mountainous regions of several Mexican states, including Durango, Chihuahua, and Tamaulipas.
Mexican sunflowers grow in the summer and early autumn. One plant may grow up to 120 flowers. They represent faith, adoration, and loyalty.
8. Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia Spicigera)
Credit: Wiki Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mexican_honeysuckle_–_Justicia_spicigera.jpg
Mexican honeysuckle flowers grow on an evergreen shrub, producing bright orange flowers and a wonderful smell. They bloom in the spring and represent happiness. Historically, people used these flowers in Mexico for an orange dye.
Add Mexican honeysuckle to your garden to attract butterflies and other pollinators. The small and thin flowers lend happiness to any outdoor space.
9. Pineapple Sage (Salvia Elegans)
Pineapple sage, named for its fruity fragrance that smells like pineapples, blooms in the late summer and early fall seasons. Many home and business owners use these perennial plants as a ground cover because pineapple sage grows in shrubs.
Pineapple sage produces vibrant red flowers and symbolizes healing. Butterflies and hummingbirds love to visit these lovely Mexican flowers.
10. Belize Sage (Salvia Miniata)
Credit: Wiki Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salvia_miniata_2zz.jpg
Most Mexican flowers don’t do well planted in containers, but Belize sage thrives even in small spaces. This plant produces red-orange, tube-shaped blooms that attract pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds.
Belize sage represents healing and protection, and the small flowers bloom during the summer. Many home gardens in Mexico and the U.S. feature this low-maintenance plant.
11. Mexican Marigold (Tagetes Erecta)
Mexican marigold flowers grow in shades of yellow, orange, and red. They are a popular flower for the Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos), a Mexican holiday recognizing ancestors and loved ones who have passed away. The Mexican marigold, symbolizing grief and despair, supposedly guides the spirits of lost loved ones home again.
This Mexican flower blooms in late autumn and early winter, providing fresh flowers for this late October and early November holiday. Mexican marigolds make traditional offerings or gifts to Mexican deities.
12. Mexican Poppy (Argemone Ochroleuca)
You can find the Mexican poppy growing wild throughout Mexico. Some call it the Mexican prickly poppy due to the thorns on the foliage. Blooms feature white and yellow colors and symbolize peace and sleep.
People harvest Mexican poppy mainly for medicinal purposes but rarely grow it commercially because it spreads quickly. These Mexican flowers tend to bloom in the spring.
13. Mexican Hat Flower (Ratibida Columnifera)
The Mexican hat flower offers unique features, including a central cone with vibrant yellow and red petals. Tall for herbaceous plants, these Mexican flowers grow on long stems with no leaves and typically bloom in the middle of the summer.
You’ll find the Mexican hat flower throughout northern Mexico, the U.S., and Canada.
14. Mexican Morning Glory (Ipomoea Hederacea)
Credit: Wiki Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ipomoea_tricolor_flower.JPG
These trumpet-shaped flowers grow on vines and bloom in the morning following precipitation. They grow in arid climates and produce blue, indigo, purple, or white petals. Blooming in the summer and fall months, these traditional Mexican flowers represent unfulfilled love.
You’ll commonly find these pretty flowers in gardens and natural environments.
15. Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia Reginae)
Also called crane flowers, bird of paradise flowers offer one of the most distinctive appearances among other flowers native to Mexico. These Mexican flowers resemble birds and boast vibrant colors, including orange, pink, and blue.
Bird of paradise bloom in the summer and fall seasons and symbolize excellence and beauty. Whether you live in Mexico or southern California, you’ll likely see these memorable flowers all over shopping centers, road medians, and home gardens.
16. Sword Lily (Gladioli)
Mexicans and other celebrants commonly use sword lily flowers in Day of the Dead celebrations. Beautiful petals in shades of red, pink, and yellow grow atop one another to create a sword-like shape, which gives the sword lily its name.
These Mexican flowers bloom in the early summer, representing memory and sympathy. Due to their sword-like shape, they were historically given to gladiators.
17. Mexican Frangipani (Plumeria Rubra)
Mexican frangipani grows in clusters of small flowers. Petals begin yellow at the center and then fade to white or pink, creating a gorgeous appearance.
The spring and summer seasons bring Mexican frangipani blooms. They symbolize spiritual life and ghosts.
Celebrate Any Occasion With Mexican Flowers
Whether you’re observing the Dia de Los Muertos, celebrating a birthday, or hosting a beautiful outdoor wedding, Mexican flowers can bring beauty and special significance to your day.
Perhaps you’ll add a yucca flower plant to your outdoor oasis for some sweet aromas, fill your wedding bouquet with gorgeous dahlias, or plant dramatic bird of paradise flowers outside your restaurant.
Flowers you order from us at The Bouqs Co. come fresh from the farm, so you’ll get the freshest flowers for your occasion when you order with us. Send your partner an anniversary bouquet, or let us handle all the flowers you need for your graduation celebration. You can also read about Japanese flowers and African flowers for more inspiration.
When you work with us at The Bouqs Co., you’ll get fresh Mexican flowers from farms that use sustainable growing practices. We don’t use middlemen, a practice to ensure that your flowers stay fresh and vibrant.
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