Alstroemeria, a birthday flower of February 18th

Alstroemeria (アルストロメリア) is one of the birthday flowers of February 18th annually. The orange flower in the photo above is Alstroemeria. In the wild, they can bloom between May and July in Japan. But a lot of the alstroemeria in Japan are greenhouse grown, so this temple had some Alstroemeria in their hanachozu today, February 18th.

In the Japanese language of flowers, hanakotoba, alstroemeria can mean  “continuation“「持続」or “longing for the future”「未来への憧れ」and “exotic”「エキゾチック」. In Japan, they sometimes call alstroemeira ユリズイセン meaning “lily‑like iris”. It really does look like a lily. It is popular in floral arrangements because it lasts a long time in a vase and comes in a wide range of colors.

Other birthday flowers of February 18th include the Dandelion and White Snapdragons.