Flower hunting in Belgium

Spring is now in full bloom and for a few short weeks parks, forests and terraces are bursting with colour and fragrance. As we edge into May, soon the petals will start to wilt and the full vibrancy of summer will take hold. But before then, it’s not too late to take advantage of the warm weekend and seek out some of the Belgium’s spectacular floral tableaux blossoming around you.

The Blue Forest - Hallerbos

By far the most famous floral attraction of the Belgian spring is taking a walk in the Hallerbos, a dense, ancient wood just outside Brussels in Halle that blooms every spring with bluebells, turning the ground into a magic lavender carpet.  The flowers usually reach their peak around mid-April, so this weekend is likely your last chance to see the “blue forest” in full bloom.

Tulips and beyond

For tulips, most join the hordes of tourists who head up north to Keukenhof, The Netherlands’ world-famous tulip fields near Lisse. But Belgium puts on its own impressive tulip display at the Vredehof Tulip Garden. Built in the late 1980s by retired Flemish environmental activist Fernand Geyselings, nearly 200,000 bulbs carpet this forest in Kessel, of some 200 tulip varieties. While much smaller than Keukenhof, these Belgian tulips grow just as bright and cheery as the Dutch gardens. Visiting the garden is free to the public, but this is likely the last weekend it is open.

But you don’t have to travel to Antwerp Province to set your eyes on spring flowers. More tulips, along with hundreds of others sorts of spring bulbs can be found right in Brussels’ backyard at the Groot-Bijgaarden Castle during its impressive annual spring flower exhibition, Floralia. Still on till this Sunday, 3 May, Floralia lets you wonder over the idyllic castle grounds, discovering over 1.5 million flowers growing outdoors and in greenhouses.

Cherry blossoms in Hasselt

Cherry blossoms are a true mark of spring all over the world. In Belgium, the best place to find them is Hasselt’s Japanese Gardens. Just outside Hasselt’s city centre, in this picture-perfect corner of Kapermolen Park lining a peace pond, you’ll find rows of cherry trees still in full bloom for a short while longer.

This Sunday, on 3 May, the Japanese Garden is holding Koinobori, its annual children’s day. Guided activities such as a Japanese dragon hunt and learning to write your name in Japanese will be held for kids from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Botantical gardens

Now is also a very fragrant time to visit Belgium’s many botanical gardens found in most of the country’s major cities. Cornered between two busy Brussels thoroughfares - the Rue Royale and the Boulevard du Jardin Botanique – the Brussels’ Botanical Garden is often overlooked as site to take in nature in the capitol. However, if there is a time to visit the Botanique, it is now, when many of the gardens’ 18,000 plant varieties are flourishing. The Brussels gardens also have 13 interconnected glasshouses that allow it to grow plants in different climates all year round.

Leuven also boasts a beautiful botanical garden. Built in the 18th century for university’s school of medicine, the garden looks small at first glance, but as you wander through, you find a new hidden pocket or quiet courtyard behind every corner. It’s a perfect place to seek out some solitude for some serious study or just to read a good book.

Royal Greenhouses

Till 8 May, you still have a chance to see the Royal Greenhouses in Laeken, which open to the public every spring. Designed by architect Alphonse Balat, mentor to Victor Horta, these gorgeous structures are filled with breathtaking flora, painstakingly collected and cared for from all over the world. Feast your eyes on them for an entry fee of €2.50.

Growing your own spring garden

If you’re interested in trying out your green thumb in your own plot of earth (or pot of earth, if you’ve only got a terrace), the Brussels Garden Festival is a good place to start. Coming up on May 8th, 9th and 10th in Brussels’ Parc du Cinquentenaire, the festival is meant to be a meeting place for fellow gardeners. There you’ll be able to buy seeds and bulbs, learn about garden decoration and talk to experts and amateurs alike about their gardening. There will also be a Kids Village with a petting zoo, crafts, face painting and the like.

Photo courtesy Hallerbos.be