Birth flower for September 19
Sweet autumn clematis
Meaning: safe and sound
Its Japanese name means immortal's grass, after the seed heads: each seed trails a long feathery white tail, and together they look like the beard of a mountain sage. What look like petals are actually sepals. The whole plant is poisonous and its sap can blister skin, which earned it another Japanese name meaning horses won't eat it. In late summer it smothers hedges in sweet-scented white.