As the weather gets warmer in Korea, people begin to look forward to the beautiful flowers that will bloom in the spring.

In Korea, people have traditionally associated the beginning of spring with the blooming of forsythias. In Korean Forsythia is called genari (개나리). Up close these flowers are yellow and have four petals, but from afar they look like a sea of ‘gold’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ieh94Br3uc

Another flower that Korean people associate with spring is the Azalea or jindale (진달래). Jindale flowers are purplish to pinkish. When they are scattered across a wide landscape, the brightness of the purple/pink really makes the area pop with color.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtJjMTvsCq8

The national flower of South Korea is the Rose of Sharon or the mugunghwa (무궁화). In addition to being beautiful’ mugunghwa’ means ‘everlasting flower’ (無窮花). The mugunghwa is supposed to represent the eternity of the South Korean nation.

Back when Korea had a royal family, the symbol of the Korean royal family was the peach blossom or the boksoongagot (복숭아꽃).  Peach blossoms are pink and have five petals. From afar, they are sometimes confused with azaleas. However the buds of the peach blossoms are quite different from azaleas.