This is your sign from the universe to stop trying to find some way to be in Japan for the ten days of Classic Pinkness, because you’re about to get clued in on the other flower wow that Japan has been dishing up year-round for centuries.
Because there isn’t just one flower season in Japan. There are twelve.
Plum blossom displays kick the year off when other trees are still brown and bare, from mid-February to mid-March.
In mid-March, the season for early-blooming kanzakura cherries
and the weeping shidarezakura varieties begins, a week ahead of the classic pink clouds and crowds.
Fast-forward to mid-April (after the price-hiking somei yoshino have disappeared), fluffy double yaezakura cherry blossoms begin to burst.
Mid-April also ushers in eye-poppingly brilliant vistas of azaleas…
along with a rainbow of peonies as big as your head.
These gracefully give way to curtains of fragrant wisteria at the end of April through the first week in May.
Late May brings oceans of butterfly-like Japanese iris…
followed by waterfalls of native hydrangeas for the entire month of June.
In July, it’s time to stroll among the lotus flowers.
Lush greenery takes center stage until the September solstice, when the native higanbana amaryllis carpet hillsides and forests in a sea of crimson.
Mid- to late-September is also when that most ancient of Japanese flower traditions, the bush clover tunnel, invites a shady stroll…
and finally, I bet you never thought you’d consider planning a trip around the lowly chrysanthemum, but November is when Japanese bonsai masters turn their expertise to shaping Japan’s imperial flower into forms so magnificent…
you’ll use up all your phone storage snapping photos.
And best of all? Many of Tokyo’s most visit-worthy parks, shrines, and temples cultivate shining examples of all of these lovelies on their grounds, to make themselves a must-see destination in every season.
Here’s when they all bloom:
Must-see destinations with fabulous seasonal flowers
The square buttons link to places worth seeing even if nothing is blooming; the “show me” link goes to all the most spectacular flower displays in and around Tokyo, even if the place itself wouldn’t be much of a draw without them.
Plum blossoms
Mid-Feb to mid-March
Show me the best plum blossoms in Tokyo!
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Early-blooming and weeping cherry blossoms
Mid to late March
Show me the best early-blooming and weeping cherry blossoms in Tokyo!
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Late-blooming cherry blossoms
Mid to late April
Show me the best late-blooming cherry blossoms in Tokyo!
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Azaleas
Mid-April to early May
Show me the best azaleas in Tokyo!
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Peonies
Mid to late April
Show me the best peonies in Tokyo!
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Wisteria
Mid-April – Early May
Show me the best wisteria in Tokyo!
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Iris
Late May
Show me the best iris gardens in Tokyo!
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Hydrangeas
June
Show me the best hydrangea gardens in Tokyo!
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Lotus blossoms
July
Show me the best lotus ponds in Tokyo!
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Bush clover tunnels
Mid to late Sept
Show me the best bush clover tunnels in Tokyo!
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Higanbana native amaryllis
Around the autumn solstice (Sept 23)
Show me the best native red amaryllis in Tokyo!
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Chrysanthemums
November
Show me the best chrysanthemums in Tokyo!
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The last thing Birdie wants to do is turn her life upside down solving a murder that was committed before she was born...
Birdie is a true daughter of the pleasure quarter. The number one apprentice to Yoshiwara’s number one courtesan, she’d rather do anything than derail her future life of wearing opulent robes and entertaining lords of the land. But when her search for the mother she never knew takes a dangerous turn, she faces an impossible choice: betray her own flesh and blood, or live the rest of her life being hunted by a powerful man who won’t stop until they’re both dead…
“…a complete immersion in a world of beauty, drama, secrets, and betrayals.”
—Kim Hays, author of the Polizei Bern series
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly Japanagram newsletter, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
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