There are so many different types of flowers and names to learn in English, and it is obvious that it will be the same in French. Luckily, a lot of them are rather similar to their English equivalent.
Don’t worry though! If you aren’t very good at distinguishing the different types of flowers, or are worried about memorising the entire list, there is a way to simply say flower. Une fleur is how you would say “a flower” in French, so if you ever forget the particular name of a flower you can use une fleur, or the plural des fleurs.
Whether you need to know the names of flowers because you are planning a trip to the centre de jardinage (garden centre) for a pack of seeds, or to la fleuriste (florist) to pick up une botte de fleurs (a bouquet of flowers), you will find the French flower names below.
French Flower Names
In this table are 50 French flower names, before each word is the French article un or une, meaning “a” in English. These will help you identify whether the word is masculine or feminine.
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Aster | Un Aster |
| Azalea | Un Azalée |
| Baby's Breath | Une Gypsophile |
| Begonia | Un Begonia |
| Bluebell | Une Campanule |
| Buttercup | Un Bouton D’Or/ Une Renoncule Des Champs |
| Carnation | Un œillet |
| Chrysanthemum | Un Chrysanthème |
| Cowslip | Un Coucou |
| Crocus | Un Crocus |
| Daffodil | Une Jonquille |
| Dahlia | Un Dahlia |
| Daisy | Une Marguerite |
| Freesia | Un Freesia |
| Forget-Me-Not | Un Myosotis |
| Foxglove | Une Digitale |
| Gardenia | Un Gardénia |
| Geranium | Un Géranium |
| Gladiolus | Un Gaïeul |
| Hollyhock | Une Rose Trémière/Passerose |
| Hyacinth | Une Jacinthe |
| Hydrangea | Un Hortensia |
| Iris | Un Iris |
| Jasmine | Un Jasmin |
| Lavender | Une Lavande |
| Lily | Un Lys |
| Lily of the Valley | Un Muguet |
| Lilac | Le Lilas |
| Mallow | Une Mauve |
| Marigold | Un Souci |
| Monkshood | Un Aconit |
| Milkweed | Une Asclépiade |
| Narcissus | Un Narcisse |
| Orchid | Une Orchidée |
| Pansy | Une Pensée |
| Peony | Une Pivoine |
| Periwinkle | Une Pervenche |
| Petunia | Un Pétunia |
| Poppy | Un Pavot/Un Coquelicot |
| Primrose | Une Primevère |
| Ranunculus | Une Renoncule |
| Rose | Une Rose |
| Sage | Une sauge |
| Snapdragon | Un Muflier/Une Gueule de Loup |
| Snowdrop | Un Perce-Neige |
| Sunflower | Un Tournesol |
| Tulip | Une Tulipe |
| Violet | Une Violette |
| Wallflower | Une Giroflée |
| Zinnia | Une Zinnia |
Conclusion
There are many other flowers that you can learn the French words for, however these are the fifty that you are most likely to hear or want to say.
So whether you are hoping to buy flowers from la fleuriste (florist) or are looking for a specific flower to plant in your parterre de fleurs (flower bed), you will be able to use the vocabulary in the table above.
If you want to learn more vocabulary relating to gardening, you can check out this video on our Facebook page. There, you can listen to some of the basic phrases used when talking about gardening and put them together with some of the flower vocabulary you have learnt here.
