Cherry Blossoms

Washington D.C, USA,
May 2000

Without a doubt the most impressive event in Washington D.C. is organized every year by mother nature in the form of an explosion of blossoms around the Jefferson Memorial and reflected in the tidal basin. Every year, nearly 600,000 tourists come to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C.

The history of the cherry trees dates to 1885. Mrs. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, upon returning to Washington from her first visit to Japan, approached the Superintendent of Public Building and Grounds with the proposal that cherry trees be planted along the soon to reclaimed Potomac waterfront. Her request fell on deaf ears. Over the next 24 years Mrs. Scidmore approached every new Superintendent with her proposal with no success.

On March 27, 1912 First Lady Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted the first Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Tidal Basin. At the conclusion of the ceremony, First Lady Taft presented a bouquet of "American Beauty" roses to Viscountess Chinda. Washington's renowned Cherry Blossom Festival had its inception in this simple ceremony, witnessed by only a few persons. These two original trees are still standing today several hundred yards west of the John Paul Jones statue at the south end of 17th Street. Located at the bases of the trees are large bronze plaques which commemorate the occasion.

Trees don't live forever, and Yoshino cherry trees average 40 years. The surviving trees from the 1912 gift that surround Washington's Tidal Basin are 88 years old when their blossoms open this spring. Not unexpectedly, it's estimated that only 125, or about 4 percent, of the original trees remain. Today more than 3,700 cherry trees of several varieties grow around the Tidal Basin, at East Potomac Park, and on the Washington Monument Grounds.

Since the National Park Service has been keeping records of the blooming dates, the earliest blooming date has been March 15, 1990, and the latest date was marked on April 18, 1958. The average blooming date--that time when the blooms are considered to reach their peak--is April 5 for the Yoshino and April 22 for the double flowering Kwansan trees, mostly seen in East Potomac Park.

For more detail visit National Park Service

Silhouette of Thomas Jefferson statue, viewed through the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.

Click on pictures to see them enlarged

Click on pictures to see them enlarged