French flowers: Useful vocabulary and expressions

Flowers can symbolize many different things depending on the country. If you find yourself strolling along a Sunday market in France, you will no doubt see an array of stunning flowers (fleurs), floral arrangements and bouquets. Many supermarkets and independent florists also sell flowers. In this article, we’ll share some names of popular French flowers, useful flower vocabulary and some floral expressions to help you sound like a local. Your French language skills are bound to bloom! 

• Names of flowers
• Flower vocabulary 
• Floral expressions 

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Names of flowers 

The truth is, there are too many beautiful French garden flowers to list. Even so, we’ve done our best to put together a list of the most popular ones. Below, you’ll find the names of each flower in both French and English. 

ENGLISH	FRENCH
Bluebell	Une jacinthe des bois
Buttercup	Un bouton d’or
Carnation	Un œillet
Chrysanthemum*An important flower in France on All Saints’ Day	Un chrysanthème
Daffodil	Une jonquille
Daisy	Une marguerite
Fleur-de-lis*The national flower of France	Fleur de lys
Forget-me-not	Un myosotis
Foxglove	Une digitale
Freesia	Un freesia
Geranium	Un géranium
Hibiscus	Un hibiscus
Hydrangea	Un hortensia
Iris	Un iris
Jasmine	Le jasmin
Lavender	La lavande
Lily	Un lys
Marigold	Un souci
Orchid	Une orchidée
Pansy	Une pensée
Peony	Une pivoine
Poppy	Un coquelicot
Rose	Une rose
Snowdrop	Un perce-neige
Sunflower	Un tournesol
Tulip	Une tulipe

Flower vocabulary 

Now that you’ve learned the names of some popular French flowers, you can have a look at the various parts of flowers and common verbs.

ENGLISH	FRENCH
Flower	Fleur
Petal	Les pétales
Stem	La tige
Leaves	Les feuilles
Root	La racine
Bud	Le bourgeon
Stamen	L’étamine
Pollen	Le pollen
A bouquet	Un bouquet
A florist	Un fleuriste

Flower verbs

ENGLISH	FRENCH
To grow	Pousser
To plant	Planter
To bloom	Fleurir
To pick	Cueillir

Floral expressions

In most languages, using expressions or idioms can elevate your language and earn you some brownie points. So here are a few floral expressions you can try using in French:

• Voir la vie en rose: to look through rose-tinted glasses

This is probably the most well-known floral expression thanks to Edith Piaf’s iconic song La Vie En Rose. It’s a beautiful way to say that you should always look on the bright side of life.

• A fleur de peau: hypersensitive 

Someone who is described this way is generally very sensitive and highly strung. 

• Faire une fleur à: to do someone a favor 

This is a charming way to describe when someone does a favor or an act of kindness. 

• La fleur au fusil: light-heartedly/without a care in the world

This expression refers to soldiers at the beginning of the First World War as they left for battle confident and courageous, unaware of the horrors that they would see. This idiom is therefore used when someone sets out with no preparation and no idea of what lies ahead.

• La fine fleur de: the cream of 

A great expression to describe the best of something, for example, the best hotels in a city or the best group of students in a class.

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Let your skills flourish 

So next time you’re heading to a dinner party and would like to offer a gift, you can pick up a beautiful bouquet of French flowers at your local florist to delight your host. And if you throw in a floral idiom, you’ll seriously impress! 

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