Water Lily, a birthday flower of July 7th

The Water Lily, known as Suiren 睡蓮 in Japanese, is one of the birthday flowers of July 7th annually. It is also the birthday flower of July 14th. In addition, the white-water lily is the birthday flower of April 27th and the yellow water lily a birthday flower of May 8th.

Suiren means "sleeping lotus". Water lilies open in the morning and close again in the evening, a rhythm that inspired this Japanese name. Their bloom overlaps with lotus flower, but water lilies bloom from longer. Water lilies can be seen as early as May and as late as October. Their peak season is typically around July in Japan.

In the Japanese language of flowers (Hanakotoba), the water lily represents spiritual meanings such as "pure heart", "trust" and "faith". The first meaning is similar to the English flower language: "purity of heart". Have you seen any water lilies yet this year?