In bloom in October

Tuberose (rajnigandha)

Waxy white flowers on a tall spike with a strong night scent. Sold by the stem and strung into garlands in India.

Red spider lily

Leafless red flowers with long curled stamens, along rice field banks in Japan around the autumn equinox.

Meadow saffron

Pale lilac goblets that come up without leaves in autumn meadows. Poisonous, and not the saffron plant.

See also: Autumn crocus, Colchicum

Saffron crocus

Purple flowers picked at dawn for their red threads, in the fields of Kashmir, Iran and Spain for a few weeks in autumn.

Cyclamen

Swept-back pink and white petals under trees from autumn to early spring, and in pots indoors through winter.

See also: Sowbread, Cyclamen cyprium

Dahlia

Mexico's national flower. It blooms from high summer until the first frost, and as a winter flower in Indian hill gardens.

See also: Tree dahlia

Pot marigold (calendula)

Orange and yellow daisies that flower for months and are used in skin salves. A winter annual in warm countries.

Petunia

Soft trumpets in window boxes and hanging baskets all summer. Grown as a winter annual in the Indian plains.

See also: Petunia × atkinsiana

Geranium (pelargonium)

Red and pink heads on balconies across Europe through summer. The plants come from South Africa.

See also: Pelargonium, Meadow Crane's-bill

Zinnia

Stiff, bright daisies from Mexico that like heat and flower until frost. They do well through the Indian monsoon.

Nasturtium

Orange, red and yellow spurred flowers over round leaves, trailing across paths. Flowers and leaves are peppery and edible.

Canna

Red, orange and yellow flowers over broad leaves in parks and traffic islands across warm countries.

Four o'clock flower

Trumpets in pink, yellow and white, sometimes on one plant, that open in the late afternoon. Gulbakshi in India.

Marigold (genda)

Orange and yellow pompoms. The garland flower of Dussehra and Diwali in India and of the Day of the Dead in Mexico.

See also: Calendula, French marigold

Cosmos

Pink and white daisies on feathery stems. They fill autumn fields in Japan and Korea and roadsides in South Africa in March.

Cockscomb (celosia)

Velvet crests and plumes in red, orange and magenta. Sold with marigolds in Indian flower markets.

Aster (Michaelmas daisy)

Clouds of small purple, pink and white daisies at the end of the season, busy with late bees and butterflies.

See also: Aster koraiensis, Symphyotrichum

Chrysanthemum

The autumn flower of China and Japan, shown in formal displays. In Australia it is given on Mother's Day in May.

See also: Chrysanthemum japonense, Indian chrysanthemum

Champa (champak)

Slim yellow to orange flowers with a rich, fruity scent, offered in temples and worn in the hair in South and Southeast Asia.

Parijat (night-flowering jasmine)

White flowers with orange stalks that open at dusk and fall by morning. In Bengal, shiuli on the ground means Durga Puja is near.

Wild Himalayan cherry

A cherry that blossoms pink in autumn, not spring. Shillong in north-east India holds its blossom festival in November.

Sasanqua camellia

The autumn camellia: smaller, often scented flowers that shed petal by petal. Much used for hedges in Japan.

Rose

The main flush comes in early summer and many kinds repeat until frost. In the Indian plains roses are best in winter.

See also: Dog rose, Souvenir de la Malmaison rose

Oleander

Pink, white or red flowers on a tough roadside shrub around the Mediterranean and across India. Every part is poisonous.

Cape plumbago

Pale sky-blue clusters on a sprawling South African shrub, used for hedges in warm climates.

Lantana

Small heads that shift from yellow to orange and pink, loved by butterflies. An invasive weed in India, Africa and Australia.

Fuchsia

Hanging red and purple flowers like small lanterns, in baskets and in hedges along the Irish west coast.

Raat ki rani (night-blooming jasmine)

Thin greenish-white tubes that look like little by day and scent a whole lane after dark.

Sweet osmanthus

Tiny cream or orange flowers with an apricot scent, in Chinese gardens around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Used in tea and sweets.

Morning glory

Blue, purple and pink funnels that open at dawn and close by noon. A summer flower of Japanese doorways.

See also: Ipomoea

Madhumalti (Rangoon creeper)

Hanging clusters that open white at dusk and turn pink, then red, over the next days. Common on Indian gates and walls.

Butterfly pea (aparajita)

Deep blue flowers on a thin vine. Used to colour rice and tea blue in Southeast Asia, and offered in puja in India.

Flame lily

Red and yellow petals swept back like flames on a climbing lily. Zimbabwe's national flower and Tamil Nadu's state flower.

Copihue (Chilean bellflower)

Long, waxy red bells on an evergreen climber in the cool rainforests of southern Chile. The national flower.

Neelakurinji

Not a yearly flower: it blooms once every 12 years, turning hills near Munnar blue. It last did so in 2018.

Kans grass (kash phool)

White feathery plumes on river banks and sandbars in Bengal after the rains. The sign that Durga Puja is coming.

Hibiscus (gudhal)

Wide red flowers that last a day, on hedges all year in the tropics. Offered to Kali and Ganesha. Malaysia's national flower.

See also: Mandrinette

Ixora

Tight round heads of small red or orange stars on a clipped hedge. In flower through the year in the tropics.

Crossandra (kanakambaram)

Light, scentless orange flowers strung into hair garlands in South India, often together with jasmine.

Madagascar periwinkle (sadabahar)

Pink or white five-petalled flowers on a small plant that never seems to stop. Its Hindi name means always in spring.

Yellow oleander (peeli kaner)

Yellow funnels among narrow leaves on a roadside shrub. Offered to Shiva in India. All parts are poisonous.

Peacock flower

Red and yellow flowers with long red stamens on a light, open shrub. The national flower of Barbados.

Heliconia

Stacked red and yellow bracts like lobster claws among banana-like leaves, in the wet forests of tropical America.

Anthurium

A glossy red heart with a pale spike. A tropical American plant, grown for cut flowers in Hawaii and Mauritius.

See also: Flamingo Flower

Tiare (Tahitian gardenia)

A white pinwheel with a soft, sweet scent, worn behind the ear in Tahiti and the Cook Islands and steeped in coconut oil.

Frangipani (plumeria)

Waxy white, yellow and pink flowers that drop whole under the tree. Used in Hawaiian lei and Balinese offerings.

See also: Plumeria alba

Star water lily (shapla)

Pointed white, pink or blue petals on flooded fields and ponds in the rains. National flower of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Vanda Miss Joaquim

A pink and violet hybrid orchid that flowers all year in full sun. Singapore's national flower.

See also: Waling-waling, Vanda falcata