Spring flowers in Japan: roses

I often wonder if Japan had a top ten of the most popular flowers what flowers would make it on to the list. Surely cherry blossoms would be number one. Possibly wisteria number two and hydrangea number three. Or maybe cosmos would outrank the hydrangea. And where would roses fall on the list? 

Personally, roses are in my top ten and I would imagine the top ten of thousands of people around the world. I am pretty confident that they rank high on many people's lists in Japan too. For there are rose gardens galore around Japan and when I am out admiring roses at this time of year, there are always plenty of people doing the same.

Coming from Ireland, roses are a flower I am very familiar with. We had beautiful rose bushes in my garden growing up. My father took great care of them, which is a must with rose bushes. They need more care than most other flowers. There is a famous rose garden relatively near where I live and it is tended to be at least a dozen gardeners. Thanks to their hard work and diligence, the roses bloom beautifully every year.

However, a rose gardener from another rose garden in Saitama Prefecture, told me just yesterday that in recent years she is seeing more damage on the roses. She also told me that their bloom isn't lasting as long and they are blooming earlier and earlier every year. They are in full bloom in many part of Saitama right now, which is about seven to ten days earlier than average I think.

If you are in the Kanto plain, the Greater Tokyo area, there is a huge choice of places to view roses. This week might be the best time to go to see them in their full glory. Have you seen any yet this year?