In spring the first flowers to bloom are the gaenari (forsythia)--four-petaled yellow flowers, and the interesting thing about them according to my mom is the flowers come first, then fall off, then the leaves bud green. We also get azaleas in hot magenta and white and pink. The national flower is the mugunghwa, whose common name in English is, for some reason, Rose of Sharon (which fails to sound Korean at all, a problem I have had for ages when trying to write about it in English-language fiction). There are also black locusts and acacias--the acacias are particularly fragrant in the summer, although I am not sure if they are native. (I know of one magnolia tree in Korea, at my old high school, and I'm POSITIVE it was a transplant. Bloomed beautifully, though.) Cosmos flowers, sunflowers.

Beyond flowers, there are also willow trees, sycamores, oaks, Japanese maples, white pines...

Korea is heartstoppingly beautiful in the springtime because there are flowers everywhere, often growing wild, and again in the autumn, when all the deciduous trees turn color. I have not seen Korea in spring or autumn since I was a teenager, because of the timing of winter break and my other visits. Maybe someday.