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Blog > February Writing Prompt: flora of your country

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcard’s messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

Here in Britain, in February we’re starting to see hints of spring: there are snowdrops poking up all over the place in my garden, even though there was snow on the ground only a week ago, and I can see the daffodils poking through the earth already. Which makes this topic feel very timely!

In February, write about flora from your country, either native plants or ones that represent your country or area.
Daffs

One of my favourite flowers is actually the national flower of Wales: the humble daffodil, or narcissus. In the UK, the Wales Country Definitive stamp for International Standard mail actually has a daffodil on it, and it’s the stamp I often use for postcards.

The stamp doesn’t really do them justice: traditional yellow daffodils are such a cheerful colour, and they mostly take care of themselves — even without a green thumb, I’ve managed to grow daffodils in my garden. Which is a good thing, because it doesn’t feel like spring until I’ve seen narcissi in flower… and I actually love daffodils so much that I had a bouquet of them for my wedding. They were out of season, since we had a summer wedding, so my wife-to-be made my whole bouquet out of paper for me!

In February, I’ll make sure to write a little about daffodils when I’m sending my postcards — will you join me and write about the flowers and plants that are special to where you live? We’d love to hear more here in the comments, as well as on your postcards.

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29 comments so far

pinklilypad, United Kingdom
That's a good idea! with COVID it's hard to find things to write about, so prompts are very much appreciated!
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greenskull, Russia
I ❤❤❤ Postcrossing!
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Gagaie, France
Good idea, thanks. ☺
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wels19602012, Germany
Fantastic idea. Thank you very much.
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avenue, United States of America
I love flowers and plants, so I end up writing about them on postcards a lot of the time, but will definitely do that for this month! Sometimes I’m able to find postcards with a local wildflower theme, I love those. One of my favorite native wildflowers is called Joe-Pye Weed.
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AgnesPauline, Netherlands
Nice idea, thank you
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Ceres1849, United Kingdom
I also love flowers and especially the native Flora, last week I saw my first Daffodil remarkably flowering under a hedge in weak sunshine. I long for the Spring flora to bring cheer and colour and a smile. My favourite wildflower here in the UK is the Field Scabious " Knautia arvensis" which grows on chalk and has the most subtle lilac colour waving as it does in the breeze in meadows.
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wendyquilter, Canada
Love thinking about daffodils but that is all that is possible this time of year in Ottawa, capital of Canada. Warming up a bit this week but we have just experienced a week of minus 20C to minus 25C temperatures with lots of snow on the ground. Our spring is still months away! My favourite flower in the spring is the tulip, and we have a rich history with the Netherlands donating bulbs to us in memory of much that happened between our two countries in WWII. Thousands upon thousands are planted every year and create a stunning array of colour along our Rideau Canal and other locations around the city. Someday I would like to get back to the Netherlands in the springtime so I can see the tulips there.
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grc547, United States of America
Awesome! I live in a desert so there are all kinds of palm trees and cactus and even Joshua Trees! Hooray for Flora!
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Angela2018, Germany
Hurray, I love flowers and that is a great topic to talk about. In my area we are waiting for the snowdrops to have a pok out...can't wait.
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queenofc, Germany
Oh, beautiful ! I am an admirer of anything floral ! My fave is the hollyhock or mallow which grows around here ....we even named one of our daughters after it (in German of course:-) )
This goes out to all the women around the world whose names are "floral" : Erika, Jasmine, Rose, Rosemary, Willow, Heide, Heidemarie, Lily , Fleur, Margarethe, Violetta, Iris, Daisy , Poppy, Heather , Holly.....
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MariaCookie, Spain
What a good idea!!I I really like the flowers especially the bulbs, my favourite are Amarillis Blossom and also the Japanesse Camellia flower.
In Spain there are no stamps with images of flowers, trees or nature :(
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ezredax, United States of America
Hi,
Our local flower is the prickly pear cactus. It grows everywhere for free.

Just drop a pad on the ground it will root itself and you have a new plant.

You can eat the fruit of this cactus, called a tuna. You can make juice or jelly from the Tuna.

The pads, called Nopales, can be eaten as well. Just remove the thorns. Check the internet for a variety of recipes. My favorite is Nopales salad. They are also used as a substitute for meat in many recipes.
Stay safe,
Demaris
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Liudmyla_Kh, Ukraine
I really like lilacs. There are many lilac bushes in our yard. But most of all I like curling roses. This is so beautiful. I wish you all happiness and early spring :).
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jelenne, Lithuania
I personally enjoy our local Russian lilac the most. It is true quintessence of spring. You can go outside, take a sit somewhere in the bush, lift your head and admire the sun playing with all the shades of violet and pink. I enjoy picking lilacs, feeling the scent, making bouquets and doing other creative stuff with these joyful flowers. For example, lilac color looks amazing in artistic photographs. You can use it as a centre-piece or a decor...
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Flippie, Canada
I'm original from The Netherlands, so for that country I said, the tulip and the daffodil are the most famous. Here on Vancouver Island BC in Canada is Dogwood the native flower but I saw today al ready blossoms on the trees. Spring is always early here. I love it!
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carruzzo, Russia
I like flowers, especially sunflower, dandelion, roses and gerberas.
I`m from Russia and one of our national symbols is birch. The characters of our folk tales often walk through the birch groves, grieving for those they love, but can not be together. Hugging and cuddling up to a birch tree is a way to find advice or peace. By the way, one of the most popular russian folk song is about birch tree)))
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Robin67, Austria
I love plants! ❤️
And I have dozens of "top ten" plants! :-D
Lately I've loved flower cards more and more, unfortunately I rarely see any in shops, that I could send out!
A flower card with a flower text sounds perfect to me!❤️
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Molly_Tsai, China
I like a lot of plants, I personally like dandelion, sky star, rose. There are so many beautiful flowers. In ancient China, peony was recognized as the national flower. Later, because of a lot of debate, the plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum representing perseverance and pure personal qualities are identified as the national flower. In addition, lotus is often praised in ancient Chinese literature. In the Chinese poem "Ode to the Lotus Flowe," the author said, "I just love Lotus because she grows in mud, yet never contaminates with it. She floats on lap water, yet never dances with it."I'm in Chengdu, China, and the city flower is Hibiscus mutabilis.
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Fairyanna, Netherlands
Here in my backyard the first flowers are crocuses. I just count a number of them.
My favorites are "vergeet me nietjes" in Dutch, in English forget me not or myosotis and I love the little white flowers called lily of the valley. They smell just awesome.
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talitacmota, Brazil
In Brazil, spring is in September. The flower of the yellow ipe-flower-of-cotton, which has the scientific name Handroanthus serratifolius, is considered the symbol flower of the country, although the national tree is the brazilwood.
From September to December, many trees with yellow flowers bloom, such as Cassia fistula, popularly called golden rain. All these plants are used for urban afforestation in the interior of the country, which leaves cities with a yellow carpet when the flowering is coming to an end.
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DollyBantry, United States of America
Writing about your flora is a lovely idea! Here in the U.S. our topography and our flora are so varied that it would also make sense to write about the flora in your state (a a geopolitical area many countries would refer to as a province of course). I'll definitely do this in a few postcards soon! Thank you!
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jaguargirl, United States of America
The flora of Missouri, my state, is the hawthorn (aka 'red haw' or 'wild haw'.) It's scientific name is Crataegus punctata.
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Owlagdad, United States of America
Our state flower in Texas is the bluebonnet. It is our beloved lupine. My mother had a yard full of them each spring, and people love to take pictures of their children sitting in them. Such good memories....
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merryCM, Germany
Spring flowers are a wonderful theme! I picked quite a few petals and small wildflowers in my garden and on walks and pressed them into thick books so I can stick them on lots of cards in February. As a greeting from the Bergisches Land, my homeland.
Snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, meadowfoam, buttercups, clover. . . glorious 😍🌹💐
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Gypsypost, New Zealand
New Zealand's Christmas flower is our beautiful Pohutakawa tree which bursts into bloom from early December right through to end of February. Its native to NZ and grows particulary well in the North Island also some coastal parts of the northern South Island. Its an evergreen too and there are some trees which are very very old with the most intricate trunks that are a favourite for artists to draw. Insects and birds love these trees. Nursery people have now produced small varieties for the house garden which is a big plus so now we can all have one of these 'Christmas" trees in our gardens. Our official flower is the lovely Kowhai which is bright yellow and attracts our Parson birds by the dozens to feed when in bloom (Tui) a beautiful songbird.
I always get wonderful comments when I send a Pohutakawa card to people
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jingchiang, Germany
That makes me think of Wordsworth: "And then my heart with pleasure fills/ and dances with the daffodils"... :)
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mapa, Belgium
My favorite flowers are poppies and sunflowers in the summer. Poppies are so beautiful when the sun shines on them and they are blowing in the wind! I also like the flowers growing in the fields in summer.
In winter my favorite is a Christmas rose. I like all colors, the red ones but also the white and the pink ones.
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SiLV, Latvia
In my native area there is snow, 35 cm, and even tomatoes for simple greenhouses will be seed just in the middle of March. So, I can tell nothing about the plants in February.
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