Europe: Where Native Flowers Grow

Tourists can't miss the wonder of the floral beauty when touring European countries. In the British Isles, there are fields of purple heather, the heady scent of lavender topped off each fall by golden flowers of gorse.

Travel eastward to Spain where the flower of the pomegranate is the official flower there. Spain's national flower is the Andalusian red carnation, a symbol of love and romance. Blue bells, gazania, Valencia Rose and lantana are also native to this country.

The flowers of France fall into two categories, the national flower which is the French Emblem of the iris and the official flower, the lily.

Onward To Eastern Europe

The further eastward a tourist travels in Europe, the more climate affects the types of flowers native to Eastern European countries like Poland where crocuses, pink amarylis and Alanya bloom under Polish skies. As winter ends in Hungary, tiny white snowdrops poke their heads from under the blankets of snow.

Flowers of Middle Europe

No one who has ever witnessed the grand display of tulips in the Netherlands ever forgets the sight of thousands upon thousands of this country's native flower in an array of colors that make the rainbow blush. The bright red poppy is the national flower of Belgium, but this is a country where azaleas, freesias and begonias are also considered part of the floral decor. Italy, the country of romance, crowns the rose its own national native flower.

Although Italians also love violets, the Pasque flower and white lilies. It may be amazing that 6,000 floral species grow in Greece. Among these are anemone or Grecian windflowers, narcissus, primroses and peonies. Dogwood flowers, also called the Judas tree thrives in abundance in Greece.

Further east in Switzerland native flowers include stock and flannel flowers which are similar to daisies. In Austria, eidelweiss, a tiny delicate white flower grows wild on the Alps and was made famous in song. Forget-me-nots can be found in Germany and create a lovely carpet of blue with tinges of gold at the rims of each floret.

Photo by: RB