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haru ni ki ni hana ga sakimasu.

春はる　に　木き　に　花はな　が　咲さきます。haru ni ki ni hana ga sakimasu.
Flowers bloom on trees in spring.
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Questions & Answers about haru ni ki ni hana ga sakimasu.

Why are there two に particles in 春に木に花が咲きます?
In Japanese, に serves multiple roles. The first に (春に) marks time (“in spring”), and the second に (木に) marks location (“on the tree”). So the sentence literally says “In spring, on the tree, flowers bloom.”
Why is 木 marked with に instead of で?
The particle に indicates where something exists or takes place for intransitive verbs like 咲く (“to bloom”). Using で would emphasize the place as the site of an action, often with an agent doing something there. Because flowers simply appear (bloom) on the tree, 木に花が咲きます is correct.
Why is 花 marked with が and not は?
The subject marker が presents 花 as the new or focal information: “it’s flowers that bloom.” If you use は (花は咲きます), you’d be making 花 the topic, implying a contrast or known context (e.g. “As for flowers, they do bloom [but something else doesn’t]”).
What form of the verb is 咲きます, and why is it used here?
咲きます is the polite non-past (present/future) form of the intransitive verb 咲く (“to bloom”). In everyday polite speech, we use ～ます endings to show respect or formality.
Can I change the word order in this sentence?

Yes, Japanese has relatively flexible word order because particles show each word’s role. However, a common, natural order is:

  1. Time phrase (春に)
  2. Location phrase (木に)
  3. Subject (花が)
  4. Verb (咲きます)
    You could say 春に花が木に咲きます, but it sounds less natural because time generally comes first, then location.
Could I omit 春に or 木に and still be correct?

Absolutely. Both 春に and 木に are adverbial (time/location) phrases and optional if context is clear.
For example:

  • 木に花が咲きます。 (“Flowers bloom on trees.”)
  • 春に花が咲きます。 (“Flowers bloom in spring.”)
Why not mark 春 with は (i.e. 春は木に花が咲きます)?
You can use は to topicalize 春: 春は木に花が咲きます means “As for spring, flowers bloom on the trees.” It shifts the emphasis to “spring” as the topic. Using に instead just treats 春 as the temporal setting, not the topic.
How would you literally translate 春に木に花が咲きます into English?

A close, word-for-word translation is:
“In spring (春に), on the tree (木に), flowers (花が) bloom (咲きます).”
A natural English translation would be: “In spring, flowers bloom on the trees.”