Battle of the Blooms 2025
The days are getting longer. The idea of warmer, sunnier days is beginning to seem less like a distant memory and more like a certainty. March Madness is approaching.
Wait, what?
Maybe you’re like me and not a huge basketball fan. But we can still have some fun with it, right? After last year’s modest success, I’m reprising my version of creative bracketology. It’s like Highlander but for origami flowers. We start with 32, but in the end there can be only one.
Starting March 1st, I’ll showcase two new origami flowers carefully hastily crafted by yours truly, to compete in an online poll to see which is the superior. Starting on the 17th, we’ll continue to knock out flowers every day by pairing the winners against each other until we have a champion at the end of the month.
The winners will be decided by daily online polls so I hope you’ll follow along and vote every day! I’m going to try to post each day’s poll by 00:00 UTC, and will stay open until midnight Eastern time (UTC–4/5). In the event of a tie, I will choose the winner.
May the best flower win!
First Round
Winners are marked with a star (★) and will advance to the Round of 16.
| Day | Bloom | Votes | Bloom | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pink Kusudama | ★ | 16–3 | Purple Dahlia | |
| 2 | Shamrock | ★ | 8–6 | Poinsettia | |
| 3 | Rose | ★ | 15–12 | Sunflower | |
| 4 | Tulip | ★ | 19–10 | Calla Lily | |
| 5 | Purple Aster | 5–12 | ★ | Lavender | |
| 6 | Daffodil | ★ | 24–6 | Daisy | |
| 7 | Dogwood | ★ | 17–5 | Star Flower | |
| 8 | Orange Dahlia | ★ | 10–4 | White Camellia | |
| 9 | Lotus Blossom Trio | 4–10 | ★ | Cherry Blossom | |
| 10 | Cornflower | 1–16 | ★ | Lily | |
| 11 | Pink Clematis | ★ | 9–6 | Pink Watsonia | |
| 12 | Balloon Flower | 5–7 | ★ | Six-petal Frangipani | |
| 13 | Pink Gardenia | 4–16 | ★ | Multicolor Chrysanthemum | |
| 14 | Flannel Flower | ★ | 14–7 | Urn Plant | |
| 18 [1] | Poppy | 14–15 | ★ | Blue Sakura | |
| 19 | Orchid | ★ | 22–11 | Western Wallflower |
Round of 16
| Day | Bloom | Votes | Bloom | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Daffodil | ★ | 19–2 | Six-petal Frangipani | |
| 16 | Shamrock | 4–14 | ★ | Lily | |
| 17 | Dogwood | 12–19 | ★ | Pink Clematis | |
| 20 | Multicolor Chrysanthemum | ★ | 29–4 | Blue Sakura | |
| 21 | Rose | 4–14 | ★ | Orchid | |
| 22 | Pink Kusudama | ★ | 6–4 | Tulip | |
| 23 | Orange Dahlia | ★ | 4–3 | Flannel Flower | |
| 24 | Lavender | ★ | 18–9 | Cherry Blossom |
Elite 8
| Day | Bloom | Votes | Bloom | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Pink Kusudama | ★ | 10–4 | Lily | |
| 26 | Multicolor Chrysanthemum | 8–14 | ★ | Orchid | |
| 27 | Daffodil | ★ | 11–4 | Pink Clematis | |
| 28 | Lavender | ★ | 12–5 | Orange Dahlia |
Final Four
| Day | Bloom | Votes | Bloom | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Pink Kusudama | 6–12 | ★ | Daffodil | |
| 30 | Lavender | ★ | 18–15 | Orchid |
Championship
| Day | Bloom | Votes | Bloom | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Daffodil | ★ | 33–30 | Lavender |
Due to a scheduling issue, the last two first-round matchups were delayed by a few days and I jumped to the Round of 16 matchups early. This is why the numbers are bit out of order. ↩︎