red spider lily Korea

I Missed My Bus Stop at Naejangsan — And Found a Sea of Red Spider Lilies Instead

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Red spider lily field in full bloom at Naejangsan Arboretum in Jeongeup during the second week of September

Everyone knows Naejangsan — one of South Korea’s most celebrated national parks — for maple leaves. The tunnels of red and gold in late October, the cable car over a blazing canopy, the crowds pouring in from Seoul for a single weekend of peak foliage — that’s the version of this national park that fills … Read more

Boseoksa Temple in Geumsan — The Flower That Never Meets Its Own Leaves, a 1,000-Year-Old Tree, and Why I Arrived One Week Too Late

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Boseoksa Temple main building with traditional bronze bell in Geumsan

There’s a flower in Korea that blooms without leaves. When the leaves are there, the flower is gone. They share the same stem but never exist at the same time — and that’s why Koreans call it one of the saddest flowers in the country. I went to a rural temple in Geumsan to see … Read more