the.com/flowering

plants' brazen sex act, performed in public, sponsored by bees, paid in pollen.

means The process by which a plant produces blossoms, often used more broadly to describe anything coming into full, vigorous development.

from From Old French "flour" (blossom, but also the best part — the same root that gives us "flour," the finest milled wheat), itself from Latin "flos, floris," meaning flower. The "-ing" is plain English grammar, turning the noun into an ongoing act. So a flowering is literally a thing busy doing its flower — the Latin "flos" also lurks in "flourish," "florid," and the name Flora, Roman goddess of all things blooming.

first bloom: flowers appeared roughly 140 million years ago
darwin's nightmare: he called rapid flower spread an abominable mystery
clock plants: some flowers open and close on schedule
heat trick: skunk cabbage flowers generate heat to melt snow
corpse bloom: some flowers reek of death to lure flies

for instance

cherry blossom festival — japan's sakura season draws millions annually, peaks late march to early april in tokyo

algarve almond blossom — portugal's algarve region explodes in white/pink blooms each february, attracting thousands of tourists

bluebonnet wildflower bloom — texas hill country covered in purple-blue lupines every april-may along highways and fields