Doudan Tsutusji, a birthday flower of April 14th

I generally try to use the English names for flowers, but as a native flower of Japan, Doudan-Tsutsuji doesn't have an English as such. But Tsutsuji is Azalea in English. It does have a scientific name, which is presumably from Latin, but it is quite a mouthful: Enkianthus perulatus. So, for the rest of this article I call it by its Japanese name!

Often, the "birthday flowers" aren't in bloom on the birthday that they represent. But Doudan-Tsutsuji is. And it's in bloom right now. They typically bloom around April to May. I took the photo in this post this morning, April 14th 2026. It is of the Doudan-Tsutsuji in my garden. They make a great addition to a garden because they don't grow too big and even out of flowering season they look pretty. When they do bloom, its beautiful white, urn shaped flowers, like hanging bells. 

In the 'hanakotoba', Japanese language of flowers, Doudan Tsutsuji represent elegance and moderation or self-restraint. As far as I am aware, Dodan Tsutsuji only represent one birthday a year, on April 14th.