Gertrude Stein may have felt that a "rose is a rose is a rose is a rose," but William Shakespeare wrote that "the summer's flower is to the summer sweet," especially after a "barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold." You probably already know that flowers are Blumen, but do you know the names of some of the common varieties? Let's start with some parts of the flower:

Die Bienen und Hummeln

The bees and the bumblebees

ohne Gegenwind von Blüte zu Blüte fliegen konnten.

could fly from blossom to blossom without a headwind.

Caption 9, Piggeldy und Frederick - Vergessen

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Irgendwas zum Fressen gibt's eigentlich immer,

There's always something to eat,

Knospen, Blätter oder Früchte von Platanen.

buds, leaves, or fruit from the plane trees.

Captions 25-26, Freilebende Papageien - Überwintern in Wiesbaden

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And on to some specific flower varieties:

Ein achtundzwanzig Meter großer Baum

A twenty-eight meter tall tree

und sechzehn riesige beleuchtete Lilien.

and sixteen gigantic illuminated lilies.

Captions 1-2, Der Sternschnuppenmarkt - in Wiesbaden

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Weil heute Valentinstag ist,

Because today is Valentine's Day,

gibt es besonders viele rote Rosen.

there are especially many red roses.

Caption 9, Valentinstag - in Karlsruhe

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Die Hagebuttenrosen blühten so rosa wie schon lange nicht mehr.

The rose hips were blooming pinker than they had in a long time.

Caption 26, Piggeldy und Frederick - Das Fernweh

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Those whose seasonal interests extend beyond the horticultural may enjoy watching some videos on another favorite summer pastime: soccer (aka football). Check out this Yabla video at the top of this article and search for more soccer videos on German Yabla.

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Further Learning:

Take a look at this excellent list of German flower names. See which ones are easy to remember for their similarities to English, and make up a set of flash cards for the ones you find difficult. Hibiscus is clearly der Hibiskus, but who could've guessed that baby's breath is das Schleierkraut? Then go through the Yabla videos above and explore the context in which these flowery sentences were used!

In keeping with the holiday spirit, let's take a look at a few German words that can be formed using Weihnachts- (Christmas-) as a root. Many of today's standard Christmas traditions originated in Germany, but as you can see from the Krampuslauf video, Germany still has a few Christmas traditions that remain very unique!

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If you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet, you only have a couple of days left! Better head down to the Weihnachtsmarkt, which, although traditionally Southern German, can also be found in other parts of Germany:

Hier am Berliner Gendarmenmarkt

but here at the Berlin Gendarmenmarkt [a square in Berlin-Mitte],

gibt es auch einen kleinen tollen Weihnachtsmarkt.

there is also a great little Christmas market.

Caption 7, Weihnachtsmärkte - mit Eva

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And while you are there, you'd better pick up something delicious at the Weihnachtsbäckerei, because:

In der Weihnachtsbäckerei gibt es manche Leckerei.

In the Christmas bakery there is many a treat.

Caption 23, Der Sternschnuppenmarkt - in Wiesbaden

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Of course, your main purpose there is not to snack on pastries, but to pick up some Weihnachtsgeschenke:

Hier kann man schöne Weihnachtsgeschenke kaufen.

You can buy beautiful Christmas presents here.

Caption 14, Diane - auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt

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When you get home, it may be time to decorate the Weihnachtsbaum! 

Also der Weihnachtsbaum

Well, the Christmas tree

wird bei uns am Vierundzwanzigsten aufgestellt.

will be set up at our place on the twenty-fourth.

Caption 27, Weihnachtsinterviews - Cettina in Linkenheim

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Learning suggestions:

Can you figure out what some of these other words based on Weihnachts- (Christmas-) mean?

Weihnachtssachen, Weihnachtsbaumständer, Weihnachtsspenden, Weihnachtstrubel, Weihnachtsferien, Weihnachtsmann, Weihnachtsessen

Search for videos on Yabla that use these words to better understand their meaning and context!