Flower viewing 🌷

Spring flowers open in the south first and move north, so on the same weekend one city can be at full bloom while another is already dropping petals. In seventeenth-century Holland, tulip mania pushed a single bulb to astonishing prices. Botanical-garden glasshouses run regardless of season, so flower viewing isn't only a spring thing.

Nature and aesthetic are both high while adventure is low. You go out to see something beautiful, but you're not planning on it being hard work. A slow walk along a blossoming path is a good weekend.

You're also tuned to the seasons. You know when the cherry blossom is due and when the tulip festival opens. You take a lot of photos, but that isn't the point; not wanting to miss what's only there now matters more.

You go well with someone who waits while you take pictures. Flower viewing means stopping in front of the same tree for minutes at a time, and with a fast walker one of you is always trailing behind. In a bracket flower viewing is strong in spring and weak in winter — one of the few squares that moves with the season.

The nearest square is the hot spring, then the palace walk; all three are slow weekends spent looking at scenery. The furthest is the theme park. Both involve a queue — one along a flower path, the other at the foot of a ride.