Flores de Mayo is the Filipino variety of spring flower festivals celebrated in many Asian countries. In the Philippines, the festival is month-long Catholic celebration held in honor of the Virgin Mary in May, the beginning of the raining season. After a long dry spell, flowers bloom overnight, the landscape bursts with tropical flowers, their fragrance filling the air. Catholic Filipinos celebrate the coming of the rains by giving praise to God and offering devotion to the Blessed Virgin. The celebration features nine days of praying the rosary in honor of the Virgin Mary, donations of flowers from parishioners' gardens which participants offer to the Blessed Mother, children and youth dressed in white (symbolizing the desire to imitate our Blessed Mother's purity of hear), and traditional hymns.