Ruby — July's Stone
July
Deep red
Larkspur (Delphinium/Consolida) sends up tall spires crowded with blue, purple, pink, and white flowers through summer, a cottage-garden favorite that also cuts well for tall arrangements. The ruby is red corundum, colored by chromium and rated 9 on the Mohs scale—second only to diamond in hardness.
What tradition gives the ruby
Gem lore is older than mineralogy and less careful — which is part of its charm. Worn for a birthday month, the ruby traditionally carries:
- Traditionally associated with passion and vitality
- A stone of warmth in tradition
Offered as tradition
Meanings here are cultural tradition — a way of giving a stone a story, never a claim about what it does.
The month around it
July's stone keeps company with the month's flower (Larkspur), its full moon, the Buck Moon, and the signs that pass through it — Cancer and Leo.