30 Flowers That Start With C (Names, Bloom Times & Toxicity)

Flowers that start with C include some of the most planted plants in the world — chrysanthemums, carnations, clematis, cosmos and crocus among them — alongside cherry blossom, camellia and a bulb that is regularly confused with one of North America’s deadliest plants.

This guide covers 30 flowers beginning with C, with botanical names, plant type, bloom season and what makes each one worth knowing. Toxic species are flagged.

Flowers Starting With C: Quick Reference

Garden Mainstays

Chrysanthemum

The defining autumn flower, and one whose timing is controlled by night length rather than temperature. Chrysanthemums are short-day plants — they set buds only once nights grow long enough, which is why a streetlight or porch light near a plant can delay or prevent flowering entirely. In Japan the chrysanthemum is the imperial emblem; in much of Europe it is associated with remembrance and graves, so it is worth knowing the local reading before giving them as a gift.

Carnation

Dianthus caryophyllus has been cultivated for over two thousand years, making it one of the oldest flowers grown purely for ornament. The species name means “nut-leaved” but the scent is unmistakably clove. Modern florist carnations have been bred heavily for vase life — three weeks is normal — at some cost to fragrance, so older garden varieties often smell far better than what you buy.

Clematis

The most useful thing to know about clematis is its pruning group, because getting it wrong costs you a year of flowers. Group 1 blooms on old wood and is pruned right after flowering. Group 2 flowers twice and needs only light tidying. Group 3 flowers on new growth and is cut back hard in late winter. Clematis also want their roots cool and shaded while the top climbs into sun — the traditional advice of a slab or low planting over the root zone is sound.

Cosmos

One of the few flowers actively harmed by good soil. In rich ground cosmos produces tall, floppy, leafy plants with few blooms; in poor, dry soil it flowers relentlessly from midsummer until frost. Deadhead or cut for the vase and it keeps going. It self-seeds freely and comes back most years without help.

Coneflower

Echinacea is a North American prairie perennial with a raised, bristly central cone — the genus name comes from the Greek for hedgehog. It is drought-tolerant once established and a heavy nectar source. Leave the seedheads standing over winter rather than cutting back: goldfinches strip them, and the skeletons hold up well under frost.

Coreopsis

Tickseed, named for seeds that resemble small ticks. Like cosmos and blanket flower it prefers thin, dry ground and sulks in richness. It produces masses of small daisy flowers over a very long season and responds well to being sheared back by a third in midsummer.

Cornflower

Centaurea cyanus, also called bachelor’s button, produces some of the truest blue in the garden. It was once an abundant weed of European cornfields — hence the name — and modern herbicides have made it genuinely rare in the wild while it remains common in gardens and seed mixes.

Celosia

Cockscomb, in two very different forms: the crested type with dense brain-like folds, and the plumed type with upright feathery spikes. Both hold colour for months and dry exceptionally well, keeping their shape and much of their intensity. It needs heat and resents cold, wet soil.

Calendula

Pot marigold, unrelated to the French and African marigolds (Tagetes) despite the shared common name. The petals are edible with a faintly peppery taste and were historically used to colour butter and cheese, which earned it the nickname poor man’s saffron. It flowers in cool weather when much else has stopped.

Bulbs, Corms and Tubers

Crocus

Among the first flowers of the year, often pushing through snow. The autumn-flowering Crocus sativus is the source of saffron: each flower yields three red stigmas, and it takes roughly 150 flowers to produce a single gram of dried spice, which is why saffron costs what it does. Spring crocuses are a vital early nectar source for bees emerging on warm days.

Cyclamen

Distinctive for petals swept sharply backwards, as if caught in wind. Hardy species like Cyclamen hederifolium naturalise under trees and flower in autumn before the leaves appear; the florist cyclamen sold at Christmas is a tender species that wants cool rooms and dies quickly in central heating. The tubers contain saponins and are toxic to people and pets.

Crown Imperial

Fritillaria imperialis is unmistakable: a metre-tall stem topped by a ring of pendant orange or yellow bells beneath a tuft of leaves. The whole plant carries a strong foxy smell that many gardeners dislike and that reputedly deters rodents. Plant the bulbs on their side so water does not collect in the hollow crown and rot them.

Crocosmia

Arching sprays of fiery orange and red held above sword-shaped foliage in late summer, popular with hummingbirds and long-tongued bees. The vigorous older cultivars spread aggressively by corm and are invasive in parts of Britain, Ireland and New Zealand — named modern varieties are far better behaved.

Camas

Camassia produces tall spikes of star-shaped blue flowers in late spring and naturalises beautifully in damp meadow. Its bulbs were a staple food for Indigenous peoples across the Pacific Northwest, slow-roasted in pits until the indigestible starches converted to sugars.

Shrubs, Trees and Climbers

Camellia

Glossy evergreen shrubs flowering in the depths of winter and early spring, when almost nothing else is out. Camellia sinensis is the same genus that gives us tea. They need acid soil and, critically, should not be planted where they catch early morning sun — frozen buds thaw too fast in direct light and turn brown. An east-facing wall is the classic mistake.

Cherry Blossom

Ornamental Prunus, and the shortest display on this list — typically a week, sometimes only days if wind or rain arrives. That brevity is the point of hanami, the Japanese custom of blossom viewing, and of the aesthetic idea of beauty heightened by impermanence. Most ornamental cherries are sterile or near-sterile, producing little or no fruit.

Crape Myrtle

Grown for two things: long summer panicles of crinkled, crepe-textured flowers, and smooth bark that peels to reveal cinnamon and grey beneath. It is one of the few trees that genuinely earns its place in winter. The widespread practice of cutting it back to stubs each year — sometimes called crape murder — ruins the bark and produces weak, whippy growth.

Chinese Hibiscus

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis produces enormous trumpet flowers, each lasting roughly a single day before collapsing — a healthy plant simply opens new ones continuously. It is tender and grown as a conservatory or patio plant outside the tropics, and it is the national flower of Malaysia.

Christmas Rose

Helleborus niger flowers through frost and snow, often from midwinter. It is not a rose at all but a member of the buttercup family, and like its relatives it is toxic — all parts contain irritant compounds that can cause burning in the mouth and digestive upset, and the sap irritates skin. Wear gloves when cutting back old foliage.

Perennials, Orchids and Ground Cover

Columbine

Aquilegia hangs nodding flowers whose petals extend backwards into long nectar spurs, reachable only by long-tongued bees and hummingbirds. Columbines hybridise so readily that seedlings almost never match the parent plant, which makes them delightful if you want surprises and frustrating if you wanted a particular colour to persist.

Cardinal Flower

Lobelia cardinalis throws up spikes of intense scarlet in late summer, named for the red of a cardinal’s robes. The flower shape excludes most insects — it is built for hummingbirds, which is unusual in a hardy perennial. It wants consistently damp soil and is excellent at a pond margin, but it is short-lived and needs dividing or self-seeding to persist.

Canterbury Bells

Campanula medium, a biennial that spends its first year as a rosette of leaves and flowers in its second before dying. The cup-and-saucer forms have a flared calyx behind the bell that gives them their name. Sow two years running to get flowers every season.

Catmint

Nepeta is the tougher, longer-flowering garden relative of true catnip. A hard shear after the first flush brings a full second flowering, and the grey-green foliage looks respectable even out of bloom. It is exceptionally drought-tolerant and heavily worked by bees. Cats are attracted to some species more than others.

Candytuft

Iberis sempervirens forms low evergreen mounds smothered in white in spring, ideal spilling over a wall or edging a path. Shear it back after flowering or it becomes woody and gappy in the middle within a few seasons — the same maintenance rule as aubrieta and arabis.

Cape Primrose

Streptocarpus is South African and not a primrose at all. It is one of the best flowering houseplants for a north-facing or low-light room, blooming much of the year with minimal fuss. Water from below and avoid wetting the leaves, which mark easily.

Cattleya Orchid

The large, ruffled, fragrant orchid of mid-century corsages, and once so commercially dominant that it shaped what most people picture when they hear “orchid.” Cattleyas are epiphytes needing bark rather than compost, bright indirect light, and a genuine dry period between waterings.

Chinese Forget-Me-Not

Cynoglossum amabile gives one of the purest blues available from an annual, and unlike true forget-me-nots it tolerates heat and dry soil. It self-seeds enthusiastically, so site it where a spreading colony is welcome.

Centaury

A small wildflower of grassland and dune with clusters of pink star-shaped flowers that open only in sunshine. It has a long history as a bitter tonic herb, and the genus name traces to the centaur Chiron of Greek myth, associated with healing plants.

Cat’s Ear

Hypochaeris radicata is one of the plants routinely mistaken for a dandelion. The distinguishing features are simple once you know them: cat’s ear has branched, solid flower stems carrying several blooms and hairy leaves, while a dandelion has a single unbranched hollow stem per flower and hairless leaves.

Calla Lily

Zantedeschia is neither a true lily nor a true arum flower. The elegant white funnel is a spathe — a modified leaf — wrapped around the yellow spadix that carries the actual flowers. It grows happily in boggy ground and even shallow water. All parts contain calcium oxalate crystals, which cause burning and swelling if chewed and irritate skin on contact with sap.

Growing Notes

Thrive on poor soil: cosmos, coreopsis, coneflower, cornflower and catmint all flower harder in thin dry ground and flop in richness. Need acid soil: camellia. Winter and early-spring interest: camellia, Christmas rose, crocus, cyclamen and cherry blossom cover the leanest months. Best for pollinators: catmint, coneflower, cornflower and crocus — the last being critical for bees on early warm days.

Two need timing discipline: clematis must be pruned according to its group, and Canterbury bells must be sown two years running because it is biennial.

Frequently Asked Questions

What flowers start with the letter C?

Thirty are covered here, including chrysanthemum, carnation, clematis, cosmos, crocus, cyclamen, camellia, cherry blossom, coneflower, columbine, cornflower, coreopsis, celosia, calendula, calla lily, candytuft, catmint, crape myrtle, crocosmia, crown imperial, Canterbury bells, cardinal flower, Cape primrose, Cattleya orchid, Chinese hibiscus, Chinese forget-me-not, Christmas rose, centaury, cat’s ear and camas.

Which C flower is most popular?

The chrysanthemum and the carnation, depending on the market. Chrysanthemums dominate autumn bedding and are among the highest-volume cut flowers worldwide; carnations have the longer history and better vase life.

Why won’t my chrysanthemum flower?

Usually light at night. Chrysanthemums are short-day plants that set buds only when nights are long enough, so a nearby streetlight, porch light or window can suppress flowering entirely. Move the plant away from artificial light after dusk.

Are any flowers starting with C poisonous?

Several. Death camas is the serious one — it grows alongside edible camas and is potentially fatal. Calla lily contains calcium oxalate crystals, cyclamen tubers contain saponins, and Christmas rose (hellebore) is toxic in all parts and irritates skin.

When should I prune clematis?

It depends on the group. Group 1 flowers on old wood — prune straight after flowering. Group 2 repeat-flowers — light tidy only in late winter. Group 3 flowers on new growth — cut hard back in late winter. Pruning a Group 1 in winter removes the whole year’s flowers.

What is the difference between calendula and marigold?

They are different genera. Calendula (pot marigold) has edible petals and prefers cool weather; French and African marigolds are Tagetes, with a much stronger scent and a preference for heat. The shared common name causes constant confusion.

Sources

Death camas toxicity and zygacine pharmacology: American Chemical Society; California Native Plant Society. Calcium oxalate in Zantedeschia and saponins in Cyclamen: standard toxicological plant references. Clematis pruning groups: Royal Horticultural Society classification.

This article is for general information. Never eat any flower, bulb or root unless you are certain of its identification — several plants listed here are toxic and one is potentially fatal.

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