A day for Gerbera Flowers

Today, and April 18th annually, is Gerbera Day in Japan. This is different to the "birthday flowers" I often introduce on City-cost. Gerbera Day is an anniversary created by the National Gerbera Producers in 2005 as a gentle tribute to the gerbera flower.

The date for "Gerbera Day" comes from a playful bit of "goroawase" ^ wordplay using numbers. April 18th, 4/18, can be read as "yo (4) i (1) ha (8) na", the Japanese for good flower. The date also aligns with the peak season for shipping gerberas in Japan. 

Gerberas belong to the Asteraceae family. They were first discovered in South Africa in the late 19th Century. Their name honors the German botanist Traugott Gerber.  Today, more than 2,000 cultivated varieties exist, in a wide spectrum of colors.