How to state facts in Japanese?

Question

I was wondering if stating facts in an essay was usually done by using the ます form of an verb, or the ている form?

I learned that the て form is, among other things, used to describe state of being of something but I'm unsure if that also counts for recurring actions.

For example, if I were to talk about flowers in an essay, would I say

春は花がたくさん咲いています。 or would I say 春は花がたくさん咲きます。

to express that flowers (for a fact) bloom in spring?

I feel like the problem I have is that I equate the て form with the English progressive form of an verb while I equate the ます form with a kind of future, which means that neither of them fit for expressing facts.

Thank you very much for taking your time to read my question! C

Answer 1

The usage of the て-form here are the same in an essay as it would be in other contexts.

Adding ーています to the verbs has two sort of different meanings. It can be like adding an -ing in English, an action that is currently taking place, or it can express a state of being. So if you say

花が咲いています。
The flowers are currently blooming.
The flowers are in bloom.

Exact meaning would be derived from context.

If you use just the plain form of the verb 咲く／咲きます, you're not describing an action that is currently taking place. This can be an action that regularly takes place or is expected to take place in the future.

春にはたくさんの美しい花が咲く。
Many beautiful flowers bloom in spring.

So, to answer your question directly, you seem to want to talk about what happens every Spring. This is not an action that is taking place right now. Thus, best word choice would be to use your second option.

春は花がたくさん咲きます