Cherry Blossom Centennial

Prunus cyclamina Mid-season Flowering

Every year Washingtonians and throngs of tourists wait in anticipation for the cherry blossoms on the National Mall. There is a festival in honor of the cherry tress, whose history goes back 100 years to a peacemaking gift from Japan to a still new country.

Japanese pay close attention to weather forecasts predicting these famous blooms. They turn out in large numbers at parks, shrines, and temples with family and friends to hold flower-viewing parties. The Hanami festivals celebrate the beauty of the cherry blossom and for many are a chance to relax and enjoy the beautiful view. The custom of hanami dates back many centuries. Most Japanese schools and public buildings have cherry blossom trees outside of them. Since the fiscal and school year both begin in April, the first day of work or school coincides with the cherry blossom season. In short, the cherry blossoms are a big deal.

Washington's cherry trees were a gift from Japan in 1910 under the initiative of President Taft. To great dismay, 10,000 trees arrived that year diseased. A second batch of 3,000 trees arrive two years later in 1912 and began the tradition of planting the trees along the Tidal Basin, which became a formal festival in 1935.  Of the original trees, a few remain that survived through the years and are still alive and blooming along the Tidal Basin on the National Mall near the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial.

There is a reason for all of the fuss. It's magical to sit under a blooming tree, soaking in the earliest sun rays of the year. They smell wonderful, look stunning, and draw hundreds of thousands. Yes, hundreds of thousands. That's a lot of people...

To great anticipation, the predicted peak bloom date issued by the National Park Service moved up twice (much to their embarrassment as the Park Service prides itself of these predictions). The unseasonably warm days in the 70s and 80s, with nights in the 40s and 50s accelerated the blossoms, and here we are in peak bloom over the weekend of March 24th (just before the official start of the National Cherry Blossom Festival). 

I opted to view the trees from a distance on the National Mall, but got up close to see the petals at the National Arboretum. Here are my best shots of these famous beauties:

Prunus xyedonesis - Mid-season Flowering: This stately 'Yoshino' cherry is reaching the end of its life and is about 63 years old.

Prunus 'Taihaku' Mid-season Flowering: Meaning big white in Japanese, a reference to this tree's large flowers.

Prunus 'Shirotae' Late Flowering: The thin white petal of this "garden cherry" inspired the Japanese to name it after a white cloth made from the paper mulberry tree.

'Shirotae' Late Flowering

'Shirotae': A favorite for its large, double, fragrant blossoms.

Prunus yedoensis 'Akebono' Mid-season Flowering: A popular American Yoshino cherry. The flower buds are pink but the mature flower turns white with a trace on pink.

'Akebono', which means dawn in Japanese.

Prunus sargentii 'Princeton Snow Cloud' Late Flowering: Popular Sargent cherry developed in New Jersey in the 1980s for its abundant white flowers.