“…Every flower that blooms reminds us that the world is not yet tired of colors…” – Fabrizio Caramagna
Nature always finds a way to disorientate us, to amaze us, to show us that everything is changeable, ephemeral and fleeting. But, at the same time, cyclical and eternal. It shows us its fragile beauty, in the explosion of colors that paint the woods with all the possible shades of red, yellow, orange. No painter will ever be able to reproduce, during the autumn foliage. When it comes back to life, stretching its sleepy petals as it awakens, it creates an ethereal and radiant beauty.
Many of you are surely familiar with the blossoming of Japanese cherry trees, Dutch tulips, the lavender in Provence, the sunflowers in the Tuscan countryside. In our article we reveal some wonderful but lesser-known blooms, which you have probably never heard of, that will envelop you with their colors!
Bua Tong Field, Mae Hong Son, Thailand
In November, a particular hilly area of Doi Mae U-kho in Mae Hong Son is full of bright yellow sunflowers that stretch as far as the eye can see. This phenomenon is famous throughout Thailand and represents one of the largest wild sunflower blooms in the world. In addition to its beauty, this bloom is considered auspicious by the locals. That’s why every year a festival full of events takes place in its honor.
Unusual blooms: luoping Rapeseed Fields in China
In Luoping County in Yunnan Province, rapeseed flowers from late February to April. Rapeseed grows throughout China but flowers at different times of the year. It depends on the temperature of the place where it grows. Luoping Rapeseed Fields are among the largest in China, followed by those in Guizhou. The landscape is transformed into a yellow carpet that surrounds the mountains. In the fields of Luoping you can meet many beekeepers. As the flowers are collected, they take the hives and move to other areas. Rapeseed flowering is not spontaneous, rapeseed is perfect to obtain oil and honey.
The flowering of roses in Oman
Here, flowering is a ritual. On Jebel Al Akhdar, part of the Ḥajar Mountains, the Damask rose blooms.
Dedicated and inebriating, it is perfect to create perfumes, aromas, herbal remedies, typical sweets and even in the coffee blend. The harvest requires dedication, knowledge and precision. The petals are selected one by one and used in home distillation using clay containers, the “borma”, to obtain rose water.
Unusual desert blooms in Namaqualand, South Africa
Namaqualand is a north-western region of South Africa bordering Namibia. It is a spring bloom but, being in the southern hemisphere, it is our autumn. Wild flowers bloom after the rainy season in Namaqua National Park. Lilies, aloes and daisies are some of the many species, over 4000, that you can see there.
The flowers’ corollas have particular shapes, to attract the few pollinating insects that live in desert areas! The same goes for the colors: white, pink, fuchsia, orange and yellow.
Poppies in Bloom in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve
The Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve is located in the western Mojave Desert at an elevation of 800 to 900 meters. The blooming period lasts from late March to early May, when the orange poppies wake up from their slumber. Since it is a reserve, there are walkways to protect the fields from trampling by animals and humans. Moreover, you can’t pick the poppies. In honor of the poppies, there’s the “California Poppy Festival” every year in Lancaster, California, with live music, street food, and activities for children.
Unusual blooms: lupins in New Zealand
From September to February, the meadows of New Zealand’s South Island are covered in flowering lupins, painting the landscape in blues, lilacs, pinks and yellows. The places where this spectacle is at its best are Lake Tekapo, Lake Wanaka, along the Ahuriri River and around Milford Road. A legend tela that it was a farmer’s wife who scattered lupin seeds around lakes and rivers to add colour to the meadows.
The flowering of the strange floral species of Mexico
In the Riviera Nayarit, the western coast of Mexico, there are three different microclimates and 50 species of native trees. But the flora is its gem. The sterlitzia called “bird of paradise flower”, due to its shape is a spectacular flower-non-flower and the rosa mutabilis changes its color during the day in search of light. But there is also the strangler fig, which killed the plant that supports it.
Would you give up cherry blossoms and tulips for one of these unusual blooms?!