When do the Atlas wildflowers bloom?

The Atlas wildflower season chases the melting snow up the mountain, so it unfolds over a couple of months rather than all at once — which is wonderful, because it means there is almost always something flowering somewhere between March and June if you pick your altitude. In the lower Imlil and Ourika valleys around 1,800m, March and April are the show: poppies, daisies, irises and a haze of wild herbs, plus the apple, cherry and almond trees in full blossom over the terraced fields.

Climb higher and the calendar slides later. The alpine meadows above 2,500m, including the famous plateau around Oukaïmeden, hold their snow longer and so flower later — May into June is when those high pastures turn into proper wildflower meadows, with the Berber shepherds bringing their flocks up to the fresh grazing. So you can effectively follow the bloom: valleys in early spring, high meadows in late spring.

If I had to name one all-round window, it is April. That is when you can stand in a green, flower-strewn, blossoming valley and still look up at snow on the high peaks — the three things that make a spring Atlas photograph sing, all present at once. It is the reason April is the most requested month I guide, and why I tell honeymooners and photographers in particular to aim for it.

A practical word: exact timing shifts year to year with the winter's snowfall and the spring warmth. A mild winter pulls the bloom earlier; a snowy one pushes it back. Don't pin your hopes on a single fixed week — give yourself a spread across April, or tell us what you most want to see and we will steer you to the altitude that will be at its best when you actually travel.