You know the rest…come flowers. Lots of flowers. Summers here in Korea don’t get serious until later in July. For now its either warm days and cool nights or rain and with it lots of color.

This is a tropical water lily from my own water garden on the veranda. It only blooms in the morning and afternoon and then closes up for the night. I took this shot with a 0.5 magnifying lens as the flower is just slightly larger than a silver dollar.

This is along the river bank of the Taewha River. The city peppered the place with zillions of wild flowers. Butterflies are everywhere.

This patch of beauty is also along the river bank. I have no idea what these flowers are, but their petals are delicate and resemble paper. The black centers make a beautiful contrast to the red. While most of these are red, we found a few  sporting white or even pink colors. They make perfect hair adornments for my lovely wife.

This didn’t last long. Apparently, only “wild and crazy” Korean girls wear flowers in their hair. She quickly took this flower off after I took the picture before any other Koreans could spot her and start throwing stones…or whatever is it that Koreans do with women labeled as “wild and crazy.”

Also along the river is an extensive bamboo forest. This is considered one of Ulsan’s twelve scenic areas. There’s a  great walking/running/biking trail that goes through and around the forest. Despite the fact that the river runs through the center of the city, the forest provides quite a bit of quiet and calm. Once inside, it feels cool, dark and and very “jungle-y.” For those interested in trivia, bamboo isn’t really a tree. It’s a species grass, albeit a very large one.

Is this a bleeding heart? In the middle of the forest floor was this delicate little flower, all alone, perhaps the size of a dime.

After an afternoon spent along the river walk, we headed home. We needed a nap. Just after dinner, the rains came again, this time accompanied by lots of thunder and lightening. Today, its clear and sunny, but that won’t last. It’s supposed to cloud up and rain mid week and stay that way for a while.