Where to see official state flowers

While the pandemic has transformed our world in countless ways, the virus hasn’t altered this immutable fact: Winter still gives way to spring and the bloom of flowers, including beloved state flowers. Listed here: eight iconic official state flowers and great spots to see them.

Each spring, the Golden State’s gold-orange poppies brighten fields and hillsides, turning sometimes drab landscapes into Technicolor scenes straight out of Oz. 

When: March to May 

Where: The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve north of Los Angeles. 

With their fragrant pale-yellow flowers atop tall, gnarled stalks, yuccas were nicknamed Lámparas de Dios (or Lamps of the Lord) for their bioluminescence. 

When: May to June

Where: White Sands National Park, where soaptree yuccas rise against a backdrop of snow-white dunes.

These indigo beauties line roadsides thanks to the Texas Highway Department and former FLOTUS and Texas native Lady Bird Johnson, who championed the Highway Beautification Act of 1965.

When: March to April

Where: Texas Hill Country, including Ennis’ famed Bluebonnet Trails.

The glorious sunflower is not only the state’s emblematic bloom, but also the nickname for Kansas: the Sunflower State.

When: Late July to September 

Where: Leavenworth County, which is home to Grinter’s Sunflower Farm.

In the Magnolia State, few things are sweeter than a spring afternoon, sippin’ iced tea, and lazing in the shade of a tree heavy with creamy-white magnolia blossoms. Louisiana also claims the magnolia as its state flower.

When: April to May

Where: Along the Natchez Trace Parkway in southwest Mississippi.

Native to Asia, this elegant import has found a sweet home in Alabama. Of the hundreds of known camellia species, the state’s official variety is Camellia japonica L.

When: December to March

Where: The Bellingrath Gardens and Home near Mobile. 

In May, the sweet scent of lilac perfumes Granite State air. The lilac was named the state flower because it symbolizes New Hampshirites’ hardy character: a lilac bush can live more than a hundred years and even survive prolonged sub-zero temps.

When: May

Where: Route 108 near Skyhaven Airport.

The state flower does double duty as the state tree, which can grow up to 40 feet high and blossoms with small, four-petaled flowers in white, pink, or red. 

When: April to June

Where: Monticello. Descendants of the flowering trees that Thomas Jefferson admired on his property thrive today.