AUSTIN (KXAN) — While Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is known for its tradition of celebrating the lives of loved ones who have passed away, the flowers used during the holiday tell their own story of life, death, and rebirth.
The annual holiday is celebrated by the Latino culture to observe the loss of loved ones. The celebration comes from Mexican traditions and rituals. The popular holiday is usually celebrated with parades and festivals.
When is Dia de los Muertos celebrated
Dia de los Muertos traditionally begins on Nov. 1 and is celebrated through Nov. 2.
Austin’s Mexic-Arte Museum provided a breakdown of how the holiday is celebrated over those two days, which “blends the indigenous religious and cultural rituals with customs surrounding the Catholic holy days”:
- Nov. 1: All Saints’ Day – This day is used for saying prayers to saints and martyrs
- Nov. 1: Dia de los Angelitos (Day of the Little Angels) – This day is dedicated to the souls of the children who have passed on.
- Nov. 2: All Souls’ Day: This is when prayers and offerings are made to loved ones, “especially for souls in Purgatory.”
The offerings left on ofrendas can include candles, food, drinks and objects favored from loved ones’ lives, according to the museum.
Those who practice the holiday also set up ofrendas (altars) with photos of their loved ones who have passed on and then decorate them with las flores de ofrendas (flowers for the altars) and also leave offerings.
Flores de la ofrenda
While the marigold is the most common flower used for ofrendas, there are a few others that are used, and all symbolize something different in terms of life and death.
Overall, the flowers used on ofrendas are:
- Cempasuchil (marigold)
- Nube/Velo de Novia (baby’s breath)
- Terciopelo (cockscomb)
- Crisantemo (chrysanthemum)
- Clavel (carnation)
The flowers “symbolize the beauty, fragility, and cyclical nature of life and death,” according to the Mexic-Arte website.
Cempasuchil (marigold)
It is believed that the scent of the cempasuchil (marigold) flower will guide loved ones home, said Luisa Fernanda Perez, curator and director of programs with the Mexic-Arte Museum.
The cempasuchil is known for its vibrant colors that are used on ofrendas, according to the Mexic-Art Museum.
The marigolds are also called “flor de muerto” (flower of the dead).
“Native to the Americas, marigolds have played an important ceremonial role in Mexico since pre-Columbian times—beginning with the Nahua, who believed the blooms were a gift from the sun god “so that they might honor their dead,” an article from National Geographic explains on the history of the marigold.
Nube/Velo del Novia (baby’s breath)
This flower is used specifically for children, Perez said.
The “delicate fragrance” of the baby’s breath is said to welcome the souls of the children.
According to an article from the Farmers Almanac, baby’s breath “is a symbol of everlasting love.”
“It also represents innocence,” the article said.
“We have Dia de Los Muertos, and then the following day, Dia de los Inocentes, we have a specific celebration for children who have passed away. So that would be used for those celebrations,” she said.
Dia de los Santos Inocentes (Day of the Innocent Saints) is traditionally celebrated on Dec. 28 in the United States, as well as in Spanish and Mexican culture. The holiday derives from Catholic tradition when King Herod I ordered the slaughter of all male children born in the town of Bethlehem. Children died at such a young age, hence the name innocence in the holiday, according to an article from Metropolitan Barcelona.
Terciopelo (cockscomb)
The deep color in the terciopelo (cockscomb) is symbolized to reflect the loss of a loved one.
“That one kind of like allows to bring comfort to a loved one. So, it’s tied to mourning,” Perez said.
The cockscomb is most known as a “brain-shaped flower with a rounded, crest-like shape and weird, convoluted ridges,” according to the Nunan Garden Center Florist.
The cockscomb is known to last from five to 14 days in a vase, so they will withstand being on an ofrenda for a few days.
Crisantemo (chrysanthemum)
The crisantemo (chrysanthemum) symbolizes eternity on the altar.
The flower blooms in the fall, making it a fitting choice for the occasion.
Chrysanthemums vary in colors and sizes and can be seen in purple, pink, red, yellow, bronze and white shades, according to an article from the New York Botanical Garden.
While the flower was first cultivated in China centuries ago, it was later introduced into European culture in the 17th century.
“Some European countries gave the flower a markedly different meaning, adopting it as a symbol of death, using it for funerals and graves,” the article said.
Clavel (carnation)
The clavel (carnation) is used for its durability, which makes it an ideal choice for decorating ofrendas, according to the museum.
“The clavel is a very durable flower. So that one and the cempasuchil, I would say, are the ones that are more durable. That is great for us to use, because we want the flowers to be flourishing and to be alive when we have our ofrendas.”
The carnation was also used “to make garlands and crowns for gods, which is also a symbol of glory, so carnation is also called the coronation flower,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
How Las Flores de Ofrenda relates to Mexic-Arte exhibit
Every year, the museum celebrates Dia de los Muertos in a unique way. The museum, in conjunction with the city, throws a parade and festival – Viva la Vida – according to the website.
While the parade was canceled due to severe weather last weekend, the festival was postponed to Nov. 1 and will happen at Republic Square.
The theme for this year’s celebration is also directly related to the fall 2025 exhibition called “En lo mas negro del Verano,” which is a poem by Peruvian poet Blanca Varela.
It explores “death, memory, and the cyclical nature of existence through 11 emerging artists whose work ranges from installation, painting, ceramics, and mixed media.”
“Varela’s poem resonates deeply with the spirit of Día de los Muertos, as both embrace death not as an end, but as an intimate, ever-present part of life. Flowers on Día de los Muertos remind us that life and death are intertwined—a cycle to be celebrated, not feared,” the website said.
Perez said those who walk through the exhibit can have an opportunity to sit with their feelings, to understand and move past them.
“As I walk through the exhibit, I feel like I have the space and time to actually feel all those feelings and be comfortable with being sad, with mourning, with loving, with all those feelings that I can feel at the same time,’ she said.
Perez said she feels the flowers on the ofrenda “encapsulate” those feelings.
“We’ve been experiencing the effects of nature in Tejas recently with all the natural disasters,” she said. “So I think it’s a really important space for us to think of how much nature gives but also takes away.”
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