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The first to bloom are the yellow flowers of blunt-lobed spice bushes.
In March, tiny flowers of such bushes appear throughout Bukhansan to
herald the coming of spring. Its Korean name, which literally means “ginger
bush,” is derived from the scent of ginger produced when the branches
and leaves are rubbed. Brewing their branches in water produces a
fragrant tea, to which the dried yellow flowers of the bushes can be added.
In September, the berries from the bushes sport a spicy scent. In the
nation’s southern region long ago, the oil squeezed from the berries was
used as hair oil by women along with camellia oil.

Around the time flowers fully bloom, Seoul violets start to blossom on sunny grounds.
The violets, whose multiple leaves and flowers grow directly from
the roots because of the lack of stem, blossom from early spring and thus have fluff covering
the peduncles and leaves. This species grows nowhere else in the world except the Seoul
metropolitan area and was designated a new species in 1918.
Its Korean name, which literally means “swallow flower,” is derived
from the migratory bird swallow whose return to Korea after a cold
winter coincides with flowers blossoming around spring.
Other types of violets bloom on Bukhansan such as downy golden, Namsan, and viola rossii.

In May, old-fashioned weigelas start to blossom in mid-spring on the
mountain’s rocky ridges and valleys. These trees, whose Korean name literally means
“bottle flower tree,” bear buds that resemble a gourd- shaped bottle and flowers
redder than those of regular Korean weigela. Unlike the latter, whose flowers
blossom yellow and turn red, old-fashioned weigelas produce red flowers. The
contrast of red five-lobed corolla against the green leaves when in full bloom in May is eye-catching.