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Map shows first flowers of spring expected later than usual this year

Published: 25 Feb. 2025, 15:22 Updated: 26 Feb. 2025, 17:47

Tourists in hanbok, or Korean traditional dress, walk past flowering trees in Gyeongbok Palace in Jongno District, central Seoul, on April 1. [NEWS1]

The Korea Forest Service released a map on Monday predicting spring flower blooms across the country for 2025, as forecasts predict flowers to bloom later this year.

Expected dates of spring's first flowers [KOREA FOREST SERVICE]

Last winter maintained an average temperature of 0.7 degrees Celsius (33.3 degrees Fahrenheit), similar to the norm, but this winter’s average temperature dropped sharply to minus 1.8 degrees Celsius, prompting analysts to expect a delay in blooming.

The blooming period for flowering trees is expected to start in mid-March on Jeju and will progress through the southern regions and extend nationwide until early April. Nationwide, analysts predict that ginger trees will reach full bloom on March 26, azaleas on April 4 and cherry trees on April 6.

In the country's north, ginger trees are expected to fully bloom on March 28, azaleas on April 6 and cherry trees on April 8 at the Korea National Arboretum in Pocheon, Gyeonggi. And in the south, ginger trees are predicted to fully bloom on March 14, azaleas on March 17 and cherry trees on March 26 at the Halla Arboretum in Jeju Island.

The Korea Forest Service collaborates with the arboretum and nine major public arboretums across the country, using mountain weather information from the National Institute of Forest Science to monitor seasonal plant phenomena, such as flowering, budbreak and autumn foliage.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]