FeatureSpring forward! Blossom to boost your mental healthEleven ways to see the world in bloomSakura in Kinuta Park, Tokyo © Daisuke Hamada | Sakura in Kinuta Park, TokyoRhapsody in pink: five places to see the full splendour of Tokyo’s sakura seasonThe Japanese capital’s thousands of cherry trees are about to burst into bloom — and despite Covid restrictions on the social side of viewing them, it’s still not to be missedFlower to the people: behind the scenes of Lewis Miller’s ‘flashes’The event florist has staged more than 92 guerrilla installations in New York. He’s made a lot of people happy in the processCrocus pocus: the herald of spring unfurls its magicRobin Lane Fox on the flower that has delighted us for 4,000 yearsSnapshot: ‘A Typology of British Cherry Blossom’ (2019) by Sam ValeThe self-proclaimed nostalgist explores ideas of reverie and longing in both his research and his artThe year the garden became our lifelineAs if to counter the bleakness of the pandemic, nature provided the conditions for a plant grower’s paradiseThe secret history of Japan’s cherry treesAn Englishman is the forgotten hero who saved the blossomsMore from this SeriesHow to plant a garden with a riot of coloursThere are rules on which shades go with which, but planting can be most effective when it breaks rulesSplendid isolation: a surreal sakura seasonMillions were expected to descend on Japan to see the annual cherry blossom blooms. But this year, things were different…The joy of geraniumsThe most loyal of companions, the pelargonium is an enduring symbol of strength – and source of solaceA Japanese calendar of flowersThe Edo-era artist Hōitsu painted different floral panels for every month