10 blooming lovely photos of spring flowers around the world

The nemophila flowers in Japan’s Hitachi Seaside Park are nearing full bloom right about now. The tiny blue flowers, also known as 'baby blue eyes', grow close to the ground, turning the slopes of the park into a striking sea of sky blue. The best time to see the roughly 5.3 million flowers is from mid-April to early May. It’s closed this year but there is a virtual tour you can take online. 

Keukenhof is the world’s largest bulb-flower garden and boasts more than 800 varieties of tulips. This year its annual event was cancelled, but that won’t stop you getting an eyeful of the colourful petals. The garden, which is at its blooming best right now, is sharing its fields of technicolour tulips, daffodils and hyacinths online, via a series of videos. 

Spring has sprung in London and boy, is it beautiful. Over the last month, the capital has been covered in spectacular shades of pink and cream. It’s not just in the city’s parks, trees that line the pavements have been covered in petals too. The evidence is all over social media, where Londoners have been sharing springtime snaps from their daily walks. 

Almost half of the world’s Bluebells are in the UK. From late April to May, thousands of these drooping beauties are to be found in Coed Cefn, a woodland in Wales’ Brecon Beacons. Right now, they must be admired from afar. And, actually, it’s best you do that even when lockdown is lifted. It’s said that if you pick a bluebell, you’ll be led astray by fairies.

Wildflowers abound in California, but one of the most iconic is Eschscholzia californica, the Californian poppy. When the state has been bestowed with plenty of wintertime rain, the flower dots the region in bright golden blossoms. The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is the best place to see them – expect more than 1,700 acres of poppy-blanketed hills. This year, you can catch a glimpse on the park’s livestream. 

Hay meadows in the Yorkshire Dales are a riot of colour every June. It’s all out-of-bounds this year, but a gentle walk around the landscape to spot thistle, yellow rattle, lady’s mantle and cat’s-ear blooms is one to add to your UK bucket list. 

The Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California are usually open between March and May every year. They attract countless floral fans wanting a glimpse of the area’s technicolour fields. It’s closed this year, but usually vistors can wander past a rainbow of rananculus flowers and even try and beat a maze made out of sweet pea blossoms. 

The shores of the Outer Hebridean islands in Scotland are carpeted in machair, a fertile grassland that puts on a stunning floral display in late spring. Scarista Beach on the Isle of Harris is a great place to see the blooms. In June, you can usually find orchids, harebells, vetches, gentian, centaury, eyebright, gentian and clover beside the sand. 

Japan is world famous for its stunning cherry blossom trees. Cherry blossom, sakura in Japanese, bloom in the springtime, between April and May. It was cancelled this year but Kyoto usally hosts the biggest hanami parties in Maruyama Park. It's an incredible place to see the pastel pink trees, which are only in bloom for around two weeks each year. 

Luoping County’s bright yellow fields are both pretty to look at and pretty useful. The rapeseed plants, which transform each spring, are used to produce cooking oil, but they also attract visitors to China keen to see the sweeping fields turn their vibrant, golden shade.