Flower news
GardensFalling glass and ‘decapitated’ plants: the race to protect Edinburgh botanic garden’s plantsGardensHow to create a vibrant cutting gardenIn bloomColorful wildflowers bloom across Chile's Atacama DesertIn bloomColorful wildflowers bloom across Chile's Atacama Desert in wake of 'super' El NiñoGardensNew York Botanical Garden event explores how crop diversity could shape the future of foodIndiaGardening Tips: Night-Blooming Jasmine to Gardenia, 5 Flowers to Plant Early for Blissful WintersIn bloomAftershock PC x Zotac Gaming Pops First Blooming Cherry Blossom DesktopShows and festivalsGet Ready for Autumn at the Midlands Fall Plant and Flower FestivalDecorationCenturies-old Japanese art of ikebana draws those seeking calmDecorationShow Us Your Garden: Pepper plants and Wedding FlowersGardensFalling glass and ‘decapitated’ plants: the race to protect Edinburgh botanic garden’s plantsGardensHow to create a vibrant cutting gardenIn bloomColorful wildflowers bloom across Chile's Atacama DesertIn bloomColorful wildflowers bloom across Chile's Atacama Desert in wake of 'super' El NiñoGardensNew York Botanical Garden event explores how crop diversity could shape the future of foodIndiaGardening Tips: Night-Blooming Jasmine to Gardenia, 5 Flowers to Plant Early for Blissful WintersIn bloomAftershock PC x Zotac Gaming Pops First Blooming Cherry Blossom DesktopShows and festivalsGet Ready for Autumn at the Midlands Fall Plant and Flower FestivalDecorationCenturies-old Japanese art of ikebana draws those seeking calmDecorationShow Us Your Garden: Pepper plants and Wedding Flowers
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Flower experiences

201 things to do with flowers around the world, city by city: bloom seasons, flower markets, gardens, routes and workshops, each with the months to go. Think of it as a food tour, for flowers.

France

🇫🇷 Giverny · Apr to OctMonet's garden and water lily pond at GivernyThe flower garden and lily pond that Claude Monet made in Normandy and painted for the last decades of his life. 🇫🇷 Grasse · All yearBlending your own perfume in GrasseA workshop at one of Grasse's old perfume houses, in the hill town where jasmine and rose are still grown for scent. 🇫🇷 Nice · All yearThe flower market on the Cours SaleyaStriped awnings in Nice's old town sheltering stalls of Riviera cut flowers beside fruit, olives and socca. 🇫🇷 Paris · All yearThe flower market on the Île de la CitéGreen iron pavilions of plants and flowers on the island at the centre of Paris, a short walk from Notre-Dame. 🇫🇷 Villandry · Apr to OctThe Renaissance gardens of VillandryA Loire château whose terraces hold clipped box parterres filled with flowers and an ornamental kitchen garden. 🇫🇷 Gordes · Jun to JulThe lavender field at Sénanque AbbeyA twelfth-century Cistercian abbey in a narrow valley near Gordes, with a field of lavender in front of its grey stone. 🇫🇷 Paris · May to SepThe rose garden of BagatelleA park in the Bois de Boulogne with about ten thousand rose bushes and a yearly international contest for new roses. 🇫🇷 Sault · Jul to AugThe lavender roads around SaultA drive through the high lavender country below Mont Ventoux, where true lavender flowers later than on the plains. 🇫🇷 Valensole · Jun to JulLavender rows on the Valensole plateauA high, open plateau in Provence planted with lavandin, purple from mid June until the harvest in July.

India

🇮🇳 Bengaluru · All yearKR Market flower hallBengaluru's old city market, where the flower floor is best seen from the stairs above. 🇮🇳 Bengaluru · All yearLalbagh and its Glass House flower showsBengaluru's historic botanical garden, with big flower shows around Republic Day and Independence Day. 🇮🇳 Chennai · All yearKoyambedu wholesale flower marketThe flower block of Chennai's vast Koyambedu wholesale complex, busiest before sunrise. 🇮🇳 Delhi · All yearGhazipur phool mandiDelhi's wholesale flower market in the east of the city, where the capital's bouquets and garlands begin. 🇮🇳 Kolkata · All yearMullick Ghat flower market under Howrah BridgeA crowded riverside flower market on the Hooghly, in the shadow of Howrah Bridge. 🇮🇳 Madurai · All yearMadurai malli at the Mattuthavani flower marketThe wholesale market that sets the daily price of Madurai malli, the jasmine the city is famous for. 🇮🇳 Mumbai · All yearDadar flower market at dawnMumbai's wholesale flower market beside Dadar station, at its busiest before the city has had breakfast. 🇮🇳 Nagercoil · All yearThovalai flower marketA village flower market near the southern tip of India that supplies Kerala, above all at Onam. 🇮🇳 Srinagar · Apr to OctThe Mughal gardens of SrinagarTerraced seventeenth-century gardens above Dal Lake, with water channels, chinar trees and flower beds. 🇮🇳 Chamoli · Jul to SepValley of Flowers trekA high Himalayan valley in Uttarakhand that fills with alpine flowers during the monsoon. 🇮🇳 Kohima · Jun to JulDzukou valley in the monsoonA day-long hike to a green valley on the Nagaland and Manipur border, home of the Dzukou lily.

United Kingdom

🇬🇧 London · All yearColumbia Road flower market on a SundayOne short East End street, packed every Sunday with plant and cut flower stalls and the calls of the traders. 🇬🇧 London · All yearNew Covent Garden Flower Market before sunriseLondon's wholesale flower market at Nine Elms, where the city's florists buy in the dark hours and the public may walk in. 🇬🇧 London · All yearA day at the Royal Botanic Gardens, KewOne of the world's great botanic gardens, with Victorian glasshouses, a huge tree collection and flowers in every month. 🇬🇧 London · All yearA floristry class at a London flower schoolA half day or full day learning to build a hand-tied bouquet with seasonal stems at one of London's flower schools. 🇬🇧 Rye · Apr to OctGreat Dixter's long border and meadowsThe East Sussex home of the gardener Christopher Lloyd, famous for bold colour, dense planting and flowering meadows. 🇬🇧 Woking · Mar to OctRHS Garden Wisley through the seasonsThe Royal Horticultural Society's main garden in Surrey, where plants are tested, compared and shown at their best. 🇬🇧 Chipping Campden · May to JulVillage open garden days in the CotswoldsSummer days when a whole Cotswold village opens its private gardens for charity, with tea and cake in the hall. 🇬🇧 Cranbrook · Apr to SepThe garden rooms of SissinghurstA Kent garden of hedged rooms made by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, known above all for its White Garden. 🇬🇧 Hitchin · Jun to AugPicking your own lavender at HitchinA Hertfordshire farm where you walk the lavender rows on a hillside with scissors and a paper bag.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly bunch

Every Monday: what is in bloom, the flower festivals of the week, seven flowers you may not know and one tradition explained.