Five flowers in bloom right now in many parts of Japan

Golden Week, a series of public holidays, finished yesterday, and with it several large flower festivals ended. By and large, in the Greater Tokyo area, the end of Golden Week also signals the end of bloom for many flowers, including azalea, wisteria and peony.

But the end of Golden Week also signals the start of the bloom period of many other May flowers. In this post I introduce five flowers that typically bloom at the end of Golden Week and until at least mid-May but mostly to the end of May. Moreover, each of these I have seen in some stage of bloom in the last three days. 

1. Lacy Phacelia 

The Lacy Phacelia started to bloom early this year in Saitama Prefecture, the prefecture north of Tokyo. They had already started blooming by the end of April. But they are in full bloom now and should stay in bloom until at least the third week in May. 

2. Poppies

May is strongly identified with poppies in Japan. In some places, the poppies are already in full bloom, in other places they are only starting. There are many different type of poppies. It is mainly the red shirley poppies that bloom at this time of year. 

3. Roses

Roses are another flower that is widely celebrated in May. Typically, the last two weeks in May are the best time to see them. But many varieties of roses have already started to bloom, and some rose festivals have already started too. Moreover, many of the famous rose festivals will start this weekend. 

4. Lupine

These dreamy flowers are strongly associated with Golden Week, but the latter half of Golden Week. They typically bloom until mid-May. There aren't that many large-scale displays or lupine flower festivals, but most prefectures have at least one location where you can see a picturesque display of them.

5. Bridal-wreath Spirea

Bridal-wreath Spirea (Spirea cantoniensis) is called "kodemari" in Japanese. It is a very popular flowering shrub in Japan, often used in public parks. This week it has started to bloom in my local park, but it has been blooming since the end of April in many places. It will stay in bloom for at least another week in most places. 

What other flowers do you know of that are currently in bloom in Japan?