A first almond blossom has arrived on this balcony. The days lengthen, the pines exhale a new song and the sound of the sea seems closer. But the background of this season encompasses many other meanings. For the Japanese, regulars at their famous hanami, the open cherry blossom blown by the wind represents the ephemeral nature of life; for the Egyptians this time meant the resurrection of Osiris and his return to the kingdom of light; and for the Mayans it was the time to empower the mind above passions.
However, when it comes to the following most beautiful blooms in the world, each person will be able to extract a lesson or inspiration, but the common thread of all will always be the same: celebrate the beauty of life.
Of all the blooms that bloom in our country, that of the cherry trees of Valle del Jerte, in Extremadura, is the most popular of all. You know it, me and the driver of the train to Cáceres. However, in our country there are other not-so-known awakenings to spring, such as the peach trees from Cieza, Murcia, the largest producer of this fruit in all of Europe – 330,000 tons, no less -. Until the beginning of April, nature is reborn on the banks of the Segura river between poetry recitals, gastronomic events and hiking trails with this pinkish flower as a motif.
The goddess of spring goes around the world and does not always arrive at the same time to bloom. In the case of the tropical state of Kerala, in southern India, she lands in the town of Malarikkal in August, when thousands of water lilies bloom among marshes that reach 280 hectares in length. An exuberant spectacle that attracts the Onam festival, whose 2023 edition is celebrated from August 28 to 31 among hundreds of offerings deposited in honor of Vishnu, the harvest and the flowers born after the monsoon that runs through this area during early summer.
Half an hour’s drive from Brussels, the Belgian spring reveals one of the most beautiful sights in Europe: the purple carpets of bluebell hyacinths that lick the beeches of the Bois de Hal or Hallerbos, which covers more than 550 hectares. An image worthy of a fairy tale that invites you to get lost through a signposted route in the form of a kilometer loop where, especially in mid-April, the flowers grow in the depths of the forest, changing from purple to greyish blue.
The most famous flowering in the world comes from Japan, where the samurai already promoted the spiritual practice of sitting under a cherry tree and watching its flowers bloom. The evolution of this custom translates today into hanami – to see flowers, in Japanese -, a word associated with the flowering period that shakes Japan from south to north throughout the spring, always depending on the weather situation. An appointment that the locals take advantage of to display the picnic tablecloth in the parks -the one we find near Tokyo’s ?ji station is one of the busiest- while families eat fish cakes (kamaboko).
The Netherlands produces 90% of all the tulips in the world and, as such, its towns and gardens offer dreamlike corners. The most popular is Keukenhof -kitchen garden, in reference to the former use of this area that supplied the guests of Teylingen castle-, whose 32 hectares of land allow up to 7 million flowers of 800 different varieties to sprout. This garden is only open a few weeks a year, so if you’re in Amsterdam between March 23 and May 14, you can’t miss this event just half an hour away by train.
The fields of Tuscany simulate a perfect natural calendar: in April the blooming of the poppies begins, followed by the first sunflowers, the green of its wheat fields or the cypresses whose shadow is even longer. The Orcia Valley, between the cities of Pienza and Montepulciano, is the best place to get lost on a scooter, drop by one of its many wineries, indulge in a spa and enjoy an environment that whispers the language of light. and the color.
Lavender shines in vases to perfume the heart of Provencal houses and the sun paves the way to fields that are sometimes purple, other times pink, where you can get lost for a moment. With the mountains of the Alpes-de-Haute as a backdrop, the flowering of lavender can be enjoyed in style at the Lavandes Angelving estate, on the Valensole plateau, a town in Provence and the first stage of a floral route that we can extend to other places: Grasse, the Luberon national park and its small villages carved into the rock or Sault, near Avignon and home to the Lavender Festival held every August. If you plan to stay in Spain, there is nothing better than visiting the fields of Brihuega, in Guadalajara, in the month of July.
Towards the end of May something happens in Carmona, a town 35 kilometers northeast of Seville. Japanese tourists – more than 3,000 per year – are ready with their cameras to succumb to the blooming of hundreds of sunflowers, a flower that in the Japanese country is usually planted near nuclear power plants to clean the air of radiation. Throughout infinite yellow fields, Carmona’s sunflowers dance with the sky and become the main reason for fans looking for the perfect photograph.
The jacaranda has inspired writers and poets in Mexico and around the world over the decades thanks to those cups that simulate purple clouds. Urban kisses to some passers-by who every March look up at the heart of places like Mexico City. The spring hangover comes when these trees cry the flowers that form huge tapestries in the streets not only in Mexico, but also in other Latin American countries such as Guatemala or Argentina.
The indigenous communities of the deserts of California, Nevada and Arizona already celebrated a ritual around a natural hatching known today as a “superbloom”. This flower power phenomenon displays orange-yellow lily sunflowers or California poppies throughout the central coast and Los Angeles -from mid-March-, the Mojave desert -April and May- or the High Sierra – June and July -. A glorious awakening that always depends on the previous fall and we can only say that California has recorded its highest rainfall rates this year since 2017.
