Live, Saturday, 3 October 2026

In flower today

What the world of flowers is doing right now: the festivals and shows under way, the bloom seasons at their peak, what is in flower north and south of the equator, where to go, and one flower to get to know.

On now

The whole flower calendar

Around 11 Sept to 4 Oct 2026, Toowoomba

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers

Toowoomba sits on the edge of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, high enough for cool-climate flowers. Its Carnival of Flowers began around 1950 and now fills most of September. The city council plants its parks with many thousands of seedlings and bulbs, timed to peak for the carnival. Queens Park and Laurel Bank Park are the main displays. On one Saturday a parade of floats decorated with flowers passes through the streets, and private gardens that have entered the garden competition open to visitors.

TulipPlanted in the park beds for early spring.

ButtercupA bright mainstay of the spring bedding.

Around 12 Sept to 11 Oct 2026, Canberra

Floriade

Floriade has been held in Canberra's Commonwealth Park, beside Lake Burley Griffin, since 1988. For about a month from mid September to mid October the park's beds are planted with around a million bulbs and annuals, laid out in patterns that follow a new theme each year. Entry is free. The first weeks belong to tulips and the later ones to the annuals planted between them. After dark for a few nights there is NightFest, with the beds lit.

TulipThe main bulb, in blocks of single colours.

HyacinthAdds scent early in the festival.

Around 1 Oct to 9 Nov 2026, Pretoria

Jacaranda season in Pretoria

Pretoria is known as the Jacaranda City. The tree comes from South America and was planted along the streets from the late nineteenth century, and there are now tens of thousands. They flower on bare branches from late September to early November, with the peak in October, and the fallen blossoms lie like a carpet on the pavements. Students say that if a flower drops on your head you will pass your exams, which fall in the same weeks. One street in the suburb of Groenkloof is lined with rare white jacarandas.

Also part of it, and being written: Jacaranda mimosifolia (The blue jacaranda, a street tree brought from South America.), Jacaranda (A white-flowered form lines one Pretoria street.).

Flower of the day

Earlier days

Saturday, 3 October 2026Sacred lotusNelumbo nuciferaThe sacred lotus is a large aquatic plant with showy pink flowers, native to Asia and widely grown in ponds and water gardens. Its flowers, seeds, and rhizomes are valued for food, decoration, and religious offerings, and it is a symbol of purity and spiritual awakening in Hinduism, Buddhism, and other traditions.Read about Sacred lotus

Where to go this month

109 flower experiences in season in October.

All experiences

🇮🇳 Mumbai · All yearDadar flower market at dawnMumbai's wholesale flower market beside Dadar station, at its busiest before the city has had breakfast.

🇮🇳 Kolkata · All yearMullick Ghat flower market under Howrah BridgeA crowded riverside flower market on the Hooghly, in the shadow of Howrah Bridge.

🇮🇳 Bengaluru · All yearKR Market flower hallBengaluru's old city market, where the flower floor is best seen from the stairs above.

🇮🇳 Chennai · All yearKoyambedu wholesale flower marketThe flower block of Chennai's vast Koyambedu wholesale complex, busiest before sunrise.

🇮🇳 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. 🇮🇳 Delhi · All yearGhazipur phool mandiDelhi's wholesale flower market in the east of the city, where the capital's bouquets and garlands begin.

🇮🇳 Nagercoil · All yearThovalai flower marketA village flower market near the southern tip of India that supplies Kerala, above all at Onam. 🇮🇳 Bengaluru · All yearLalbagh and its Glass House flower showsBengaluru's historic botanical garden, with big flower shows around Republic Day and Independence Day.

🇮🇳 Srinagar · Apr to OctThe Mughal gardens of SrinagarTerraced seventeenth-century gardens above Dal Lake, with water channels, chinar trees and flower beds.

🇮🇳 Ooty · Mar to OctOoty Botanical Garden and its May flower showA terraced hill-station garden in the Nilgiris, known for its annual summer flower show.

🇮🇳 Satara · Aug to OctKaas plateau in flowerA rocky plateau in the Western Ghats that is carpeted with tiny wildflowers after the monsoon.

🇮🇳 Munnar · Aug to OctNeelakurinji bloom in the hills of MunnarA shrub that turns the high grasslands of Kerala blue once every twelve years. The next mass bloom is expected in 2030.

🇮🇳 Pampore · Oct to NovSaffron harvest in PamporeFor a few weeks each autumn the fields south of Srinagar turn purple with saffron crocus.

🇯🇵 Tokyo · Feb to NovShinjuku Gyoen through the seasonsA large former imperial garden in central Tokyo with a long cherry season and an autumn chrysanthemum show.

🇯🇵 Hitachinaka · Apr to OctNemophila hill at Hitachi Seaside ParkA hill by the Pacific covered in small sky-blue flowers in spring and red kochia bushes in autumn.

🇯🇵 Kanazawa · All yearKenroku-enOne of Japan's most celebrated landscape gardens, with something in flower in almost every season. 🇯🇵 Tokyo · All yearOta Market flower auctionJapan's biggest wholesale flower market, where early risers can watch the auction from a gallery.

🇯🇵 Kyoto · All yearAn ikebana lesson in KyotoLearn the basics of Japanese flower arranging in the city where the art took shape.

Coming up in the next 30 days

In 5 days, 8 Oct to 6 Dec 2026Dubai Miracle Garden seasonA garden of many millions of flowers in the desert reopens for the cool months.

In 7 days, 10 to 18 Oct 2026BathukammaFor nine days the women of Telangana build towers of wild flowers, sing around them and float them on water.

In 9 days, 12 Oct 2026Offering of Flowers to the Virgin of the PillarOn 12 October hundreds of thousands of people in regional dress bring flowers to the Virgin in Zaragoza.

In 14 days, 17 to 21 Oct 2026Durga PujaBengal's great autumn festival, when 108 lotuses are offered to the goddess at the turning point of the puja.

In 15 days, 18 Oct 2026Double Ninth FestivalChongyang: climb a hill, look at chrysanthemums and drink chrysanthemum wine for a long life. In 17 days, 20 Oct 2026Vietnamese Women's DayOn 20 October men and children in Vietnam give flowers to the women in their lives.

In 17 days, around 20 Oct to 18 Nov 2026Chrysanthemum shows of JapanIn late autumn, shrines and gardens across Japan show chrysanthemums trained into extraordinary forms.

In 22 days, around 25 to 31 Oct 2026Phool Walon Ki SairDelhi's procession of the flower sellers, with floral fans offered at a Sufi shrine and a Hindu temple.

In 27 days, 30 Oct to 8 Nov 2026Grafton Jacaranda FestivalA river town in New South Wales celebrates its purple avenues with a festival first held in 1935.

In 29 days, 1 to 2 Nov 2026Day of the DeadMexican families lay paths of marigold petals to lead the souls of the dead home.

In 29 days, 1 to 2 Nov 2026All Saints' DayAcross Catholic Europe, families take pots of chrysanthemums to the graves of their relatives.

Photo credits on this page

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

Day of the Dead: RubeHM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Shalimar Bagh: ANSAR AHMAD, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Rose: User:Tigerente, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Cyclamen: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pelargonium: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ikebana: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Tulip: John O'Neill, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Lily-of-the-valley: Salicyna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Dahlia: JackyM59, CC BY 4.0, source
Buttercup: Hanay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Pot marigold: Betty Cai, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Oleander: Unknown author, CC BY 2.5, source
Shinjuku Gyoen: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Anemone: Aviad2001, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Hyacinth: The wub, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Saffron crocus: KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Autumn crocus: Stemonitis, Public domain, source
Marvel of Peru: Khalid Mahmood at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Petunia: Unknown author, GFDL 1.2, source
Lantana: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Phool Walon Ki Sair: Nvvchar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Sacred lotus: T.Voekler, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bathukamma: Randhirreddy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Double Ninth Festival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
All Saints Chrysanthemums: Fra Angelico, Public domain, source
Bluebell Season: JackyM59, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Dubai Miracle Garden Season: Dmg200, CC BY 4.0, source
Pilar Flower Offering: jesus martinez, CC BY 2.0, source
Durga Puja: Subhrajyoti07, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Jacaranda Festival Grafton: Tim Keegan, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Grape Hyacinth: Daniel78, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Ranunculus: SuperJew, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Freesia: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Fritillary: Yerpo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Crown Imperial: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Calla Lily: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Tuberose: SKsiddhartthan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Red Spider Lily: Jim Evans, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Amaryllis: JJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Clivia: Bernard DUPONT, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Palash: SumaTagadur 05:01, 28 March 2007 (UTC), CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Kachnar: Peter1968 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, source
Coral Tree: Yu-Ju Chang, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Rhododendron Arboreum: Marcus334, CC BY 3.0, source
Redbud: Greg Hume, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Cherry Blossom: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Orange Blossom: Alexander Hardin, CC BY 3.0, source
Copper Pod: Steve Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Apple Blossom: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Dogwood: No machine-readable author provided. Koba-chan assumed (based on copyr, CC BY 2.5, source
Champa: Francisco Manuel Blanco (O.S.A.), Public domain, source
Parijat: J.M.Garg, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Himalayan Cherry: Patcharapapats, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Camellia Sasanqua: KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Plumbago: ErgoSum88, Public domain, source
Fuchsia: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Night Blooming Jasmine: Asit K. Ghosh Thaumaturgist, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Osmanthus: Laitr Keiows, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Zinnia: John Alan Elson, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Nasturtium: George Chernilevsky, Public domain, source
Canna: Muhammad Mahdi Karim , edited by Fir0002, GFDL 1.2, source
Kurinji: Suresh Krishna, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Kr Market Bengaluru: Pp391, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Dadar Flower Market Mumbai: Swaminathan, CC BY 2.0, source
Mullick Ghat Flower Market Kolkata: Pradip paswan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Koyambedu Flower Market Chennai: Sudhamshu Hebbar, CC BY 2.0, source
Madurai Jasmine Market: எஸ்ஸார், CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Thovalai Flower Market: Dr. Chinchu C., CC BY 4.0, source
Ooty Botanical Garden Flower Show: Hemant meena, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Kaas Plateau Satara: Nilrocks, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pampore Saffron Harvest: Ashfaq ahanger, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Hitachi Seaside Park Nemophila: Miyuki Meinaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Kenroku En Kanazawa: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, source