In bloom in October

Poppy anemone

Red, purple and white flowers of the eastern Mediterranean. In southern Israel the red fields draw walkers in February.

Hyacinth

Dense, heavily scented spikes in spring beds and pots, and on the Nowruz table in Iran.

Grape hyacinth

Short spikes of tight blue beads, planted in ribbons under tulips and along paths.

Tulip

Bulb fields and park beds in spring, from the Netherlands and Istanbul to Srinagar. Wild tulips flower on Central Asian hills.

See also: Tulipa linifolia, Tulipa suaveolens

Persian buttercup

Tightly layered flowers like small peonies, grown in striped fields for the cut flower trade and in spring pots.

See also: Meadow buttercup

Freesia

A South African corm with a sweet, peppery scent. Common in florists' bunches and in mild-climate gardens in spring.

Snake's head fritillary

Nodding, chequered purple bells in damp meadows. A few old English flood meadows still hold them in thousands.

See also: Fritillaria persica, Yellow Himalayan fritillary

Crown imperial

A tall stem with a ring of orange or yellow bells under a tuft of leaves. Wild on slopes in Iran and Turkey.

Bluebell

A blue haze on the floor of old woods in Britain and Ireland, just before the tree leaves close over.

Lily of the valley

Small white scented bells in shade. In France sprigs are given on the first of May.

Arum lily

A white funnel around a yellow spike. It grows wild in wet ground in South Africa and is a florist staple elsewhere.

Amaryllis

A fat bulb that sends up huge red or striped trumpets. Grown indoors for winter in the north, outdoors in spring in the south.

Clivia

Orange trumpets above strap leaves in deep shade. A South African forest plant and a common house plant elsewhere.

Palash (flame of the forest)

Orange-red flowers on bare branches across the dry forests of central and eastern India, around the time of Holi.

Kachnar (orchid tree)

Pink, mauve or white orchid-like flowers on a small tree in north Indian streets and gardens. The buds are cooked.

Ashoka

Bunches of orange and red flowers on a small evergreen tree, planted near temples in India and Sri Lanka.

Indian coral tree

Claw-shaped scarlet flowers on bare, thorny branches at the end of the dry season, across South Asia and the Pacific.

Tree rhododendron (burans)

Red flowers on whole Himalayan hillsides in spring. Nepal's national flower, and pressed into a drink in Uttarakhand.

Redbud

Small magenta flowers straight off the bare twigs and trunk, along woodland edges in eastern North America.

Cherry blossom

Clouds of pale pink for a week or two. The front moves north through Japan from late March, with picnics under the trees.

See also: Almond, Apricot

Orange blossom

Small white waxy flowers with a heavy sweet scent, filling citrus towns such as Seville in spring.

Copper pod

Upright sprays of yellow flowers that carpet the pavement below. A common avenue tree in Indian and Southeast Asian cities.

Apple blossom

Pink buds opening white in orchards, from Normandy and Kent to Himachal and Washington State.

Flowering dogwood

Four white or pink bracts, which are petal-like leaves, on a small woodland tree of the eastern United States.

See also: Kousa dogwood

Paulownia (empress tree)

Upright clusters of pale violet, foxglove-like flowers on bare branches. Native to China and long planted in Japan.

Horse chestnut

White flower spikes, often called candles, standing up all over a big park tree in late spring.

Jacaranda

Violet-blue trees and fallen petals along the streets of Pretoria, Sydney and Buenos Aires in spring, and Mexico City and Lisbon.

Laburnum

Hanging yellow chains in late spring, often trained over an arch to make a tunnel of flowers.

Hawthorn (may blossom)

White blossom that thickens hedgerows across Britain and Ireland in late spring, with a heavy, musky scent.

See also: Common hawthorn

Golden wattle

Australia's national flower: bright yellow balls at the end of winter. Wattle Day is the first of September.

Kowhai

Hanging yellow flowers on a small New Zealand tree in early spring, visited by tui and other nectar birds.

African tulip tree

Clusters of orange-red cups at the top of a tall tree. From tropical Africa, planted across warm cities.

Gorse

Spiny bushes covered in yellow, coconut-scented flowers on heaths and cliffs. Some is in flower in almost any month.

Azalea

Low bushes hidden under pink, red and white flowers in spring, in Japanese temple gardens and the American South.

Lilac

Heavy, sweet-scented cones of mauve or white on old garden bushes for two or three weeks in spring.

See also: Persian lilac

Rhododendron

Big trusses of flowers on evergreen shrubs in woodland gardens, and wild on Himalayan and Chinese mountainsides.

See also: Common rhododendron, Rhododendron aureum

Damask rose

The rose of rose water and rose oil, picked at dawn in Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran and around Taif in Saudi Arabia.

Bottlebrush

Red brushes of stamens at the branch tips. Australian, and common in parks across India and the Mediterranean.

Rose

The main flush comes in early summer and many kinds repeat until frost. In the Indian plains roses are best in winter.

See also: Dog rose, Souvenir de la Malmaison rose

Pincushion

Round orange and red heads of stiff curved styles, on shrubs of the South African Cape. A long-lasting cut flower.

King protea

South Africa's national flower: a bowl of pink bracts as wide as a dinner plate, on Cape mountain slopes.

Waratah

A dense crimson dome on a tall stem in the sandstone bush around Sydney. The floral emblem of New South Wales.

Pansy

Flat faces in purple, yellow and white. A cool-season bedding flower, through winter in mild places and the Indian plains.

See also: Sweet Violet, Wild Pansy

Rapeseed (canola)

Whole landscapes of yellow in spring, in Europe, in Luoping in China, on Jeju in Korea, and on the Canadian prairies in summer.

Forget-me-not

A mist of tiny blue flowers with yellow eyes under tulips and along streams.

Bleeding heart

Rows of pink heart-shaped lockets on arching stems in spring shade.

Moss phlox (shibazakura)

A ground-hugging mat of pink, white and mauve. Japanese parks plant whole hillsides of it, some with Mount Fuji behind.

See also: Phlox

Baby blue eyes (nemophila)

Small sky-blue cups. A Californian wildflower, sown by the million on the hills of Hitachi Seaside Park in Japan.

Columbine

Spurred, nodding flowers on thin stems in late spring, in cottage gardens and wild in mountain meadows.

See also: Siberian columbine, Columbine

Peony

Huge, many-petalled flowers for a short late-spring season. Tree peonies open a few weeks earlier, as at Luoyang in China.

See also: Woodland peony, Paeonia anomala

Iris

Three upright petals and three falling ones, in every colour. Bearded irises fill borders at the turn of spring to summer.

See also: Iris damascena, Coastal Iris

Pot marigold (calendula)

Orange and yellow daisies that flower for months and are used in skin salves. A winter annual in warm countries.

Geranium (pelargonium)

Red and pink heads on balconies across Europe through summer. The plants come from South Africa.

See also: Pelargonium, Meadow Crane's-bill

Clematis

Wide starry flowers on a climber that scrambles over walls, arches and shrubs. Different kinds take turns from spring to autumn.

Sweet pea

Frilled, strongly scented flowers on a climbing annual, picked every few days to keep more coming.

See also: Perennial pea

Madhumalti (Rangoon creeper)

Hanging clusters that open white at dusk and turn pink, then red, over the next days. Common on Indian gates and walls.

Bougainvillea

Papery magenta, orange and white bracts over walls and gates. At its fullest in dry, sunny weather.

Wisteria

Long hanging chains of mauve or white, scented, on house fronts and over the great trellises of Japanese parks.

Common poppy

Thin scarlet petals in field edges and disturbed ground across Europe. The remembrance flower of the First World War.

See also: Common poppy, Poppy

Primrose

Pale yellow flowers in a low rosette on banks and in open woods, among the first wildflowers of the European spring.

See also: Japanese primrose, Primula sieboldii

Wood anemone

White stars that carpet old European woodland in early spring and close when the sky clouds over.

Daisy

The small white and yellow lawn flower of Europe, out for most of the growing season and made into chains by children.

See also: Leucanthemum

California poppy

Silky orange cups that cover hillsides in southern California after a wet winter. They close at night and on dull days.

Dandelion

Yellow discs that turn meadows and verges gold in spring, then become round seed heads.

See also: Common dandelion

Pasqueflower

Furry purple bells with gold centres on chalk and limestone grassland around Easter.

See also: Spring Pasque Flower, Eastern pasqueflower

Cowslip

Clusters of small, deep yellow bells on one stalk in old meadows and on road banks in Europe.

See also: Marsh-marigold

Kangaroo paw

Furry red and green tubes shaped like a paw, on tall stems. Part of the spring wildflower season in Western Australia.

Hibiscus (gudhal)

Wide red flowers that last a day, on hedges all year in the tropics. Offered to Kali and Ganesha. Malaysia's national flower.

See also: Mandrinette

Ixora

Tight round heads of small red or orange stars on a clipped hedge. In flower through the year in the tropics.

Crossandra (kanakambaram)

Light, scentless orange flowers strung into hair garlands in South India, often together with jasmine.

Madagascar periwinkle (sadabahar)

Pink or white five-petalled flowers on a small plant that never seems to stop. Its Hindi name means always in spring.

Yellow oleander (peeli kaner)

Yellow funnels among narrow leaves on a roadside shrub. Offered to Shiva in India. All parts are poisonous.

Peacock flower

Red and yellow flowers with long red stamens on a light, open shrub. The national flower of Barbados.

See also: Pride of Barbados

Heliconia

Stacked red and yellow bracts like lobster claws among banana-like leaves, in the wet forests of tropical America.

Anthurium

A glossy red heart with a pale spike. A tropical American plant, grown for cut flowers in Hawaii and Mauritius.

See also: Flamingo Flower

Tiare (Tahitian gardenia)

A white pinwheel with a soft, sweet scent, worn behind the ear in Tahiti and the Cook Islands and steeped in coconut oil.

Mogra (Arabian jasmine)

Round white buds strung into gajra for the hair in India. Sampaguita in the Philippines and melati in Indonesia.

See also: Arabian jasmine

Bird of paradise

Orange and blue flowers shaped like a crested bird's head. From South Africa, and planted all over Los Angeles.

Moth orchid

Arching sprays of flat white or pink flowers that last for months. The usual pot orchid, and Indonesia's moon orchid.

See also: Phalaenopsis schilleriana, Phalaenopsis sanderiana

Cymbidium orchid

Tall spikes of waxy flowers in the cool season. Grown in the Himalayan foothills and treasured in China for centuries.

Noble dendrobium

White and purple flowers all along cane-like stems in spring. It grows on trees from the Himalaya to southern China.

See also: Cooktown orchid, Unscented dendrobium

Vanda Miss Joaquim

A pink and violet hybrid orchid that flowers all year in full sun. Singapore's national flower.

See also: Waling-waling, Vanda falcata

Vygie (ice plant)

Low succulent mats that vanish under glossy pink, purple and orange daisies in the South African spring. They open in sun.

Desert rose (adenium)

Pink and red trumpets on a swollen grey trunk. From Africa and Arabia, and a popular pot plant in India and Thailand.

See also: Desert rose, Desert rose