Washington cherry blossoms peak late but still deliver
Beautiful weather over the weekend coaxed the delicate buds to bloom on many of DC’s cherry trees to the delight of tourists and locals alike. This year’s late peak, due to the cold start to spring, pushed back the National Park Service’s initial March 26-30 prediction throwing shade on more than a few blossom enthusiasts’ original travel plans.
Take a look of photos of the cherry blossoms as they bloom into their peak, as well as pictures from past years of the festival.
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- April 08, 2013: A Cherry tree in bloom is seen at Scott circle in downtown Washington. (Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 08, 2013: The statue of US Army General Winfield Scott (1786–1866) is seen trough the cherry blossom trees adjacent to Scott Circle in Washington, DC. (Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 08, 2013: Cars pass next to cherry trees in bloom at Scott Circle in downtown Washington. (Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 8, 2013: Cherry blossoms bloom on the edge of the U.S. Capitol after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)
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- April 8, 2013: Cherry blossoms bloom on the edge of the Tidal Basin after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)
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- April 8, 2013: People relax in the shade of blooming cherry trees near the Washington Monument in Washington. Nicholas KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 8, 2013: Cherry blossoms bloom on the edge of the Tidal Basin after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 8, 2013: Cherry blossoms bloom on the edge of the Tidal Basin after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 8, 2013: Cherry blossoms bloom on the edge of the Tidal Basin after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 8, 2013: People gather on the edge of the Tidal Basin to take photographs of the cherry blossoms at sunrise after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the blooming season in the nation’s capital in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 8, 2013: Cherry blossoms bloom on the edge of the Tidal Basin after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 8, 2013: Cherry blossoms bloom on the edge of the Tidal Basin after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 8, 2013: Cherry blossoms bloom on the edge of the Tidal Basin after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 8, 2013: Cherry blossoms bloom on the edge of the Tidal Basin after a colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: Tourists pose with cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: Tourists photograph cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: Tourists walk along the Tidal Basin beneath cherry blossoms in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: Tourists photograph cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: People stroll around the Tidal Basin where cherry trees are just beginning to bloom in Washington, DC. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: Children climb in a cherry tree at the Tidal Basin where the trees are just beginning to bloom in Washington, DC. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: People stroll around the Tidal Basin where cherry trees are just beginning to bloom in Washington, DC. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: Cleo van der Veen paints a watercolor picture of blossoming cherry trees in Washington, DC. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: People relax around the Tidal Basin where cherry trees are just beginning to bloom in Washington, DC. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
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- April 7, 2013: Cherry trees blossom across from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial at the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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- April 7, 2013: People drink coffee under cherry blossoms as the sun rises along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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- April 7, 2013: People use their mobile phones to photograph cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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- April 7, 2013: Cherry trees blossom along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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- April 7, 2013: People photograph one of the few trees displaying a large number of fully-opened cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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- April 7, 2013: Cherry trees blossom along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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- April 7, 2013: Runners cross a bridge near the Thomas Jefferson Memorial during the annual Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run at the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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- April 7, 2013: A man photographs cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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- April 7, 2013: People walk under cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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- April 6, 2013: Tourists gather around blooming Cherry trees near the Potomac River in Washington, DC. A handful of the trees are in full bloom as unseasonably cool temperatures have kept most from flowering. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 5, 2013: Cherry blossoms slowly starting to open around the Tidal Basin. A colder than normal March and chilly April has delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital.(Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 5, 2013: Cherry blossoms slowly starting to open around the Tidal Basin. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 5, 2013: People enjoy the sunset on the Tidal Basin as cherry blossoms begin to bloom in Washington. The peak of the cherry blossom season is expected in the next few days. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 5, 2013: A man runs past cherry blossom buds that have yet to bloom around the Tidal Basin in Washington. Low seasonal temperatures in the Washington area have delayed the annual cherry blossom display that draws tourists into the area in great numbers. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)
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- April 5, 2013: Cherry blossoms begin to bloom by the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 5, 2013: Cherry blossom buds that have yet to bloom are seen around the Tidal Basin in Washington. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is seen in the background. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)
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- April 5, 2013: The sun sets on the Tidal Basin as cherry blossoms begin to bloom in Washington. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 5, 2013: Cherry blossoms slowly start to open around the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- April 5, 2013: A woman uses her camera phone to photograph cherry blossom buds that are beginning to bloom around the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)
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- April 5, 2013: A man photographs cherry blossom buds that have yet to bloom around the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)
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- April 4, 2013: Cherry blossoms begin to open on trees near the Tidal Basin in Washington. The National Park Service predicts that the trees will reach peak bloom over the next few days. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 4, 2013: A woman takes pictures of cherry blossoms beginning to open near the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
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- April 3, 2013: Cherry blossoms slowly start to open around the Tidal Basin. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- March 21, 2013: A cut of a beaver holding a sign advising visitors not to pick the blossoms or climb the Cherry trees is seen along the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 19, 2013: The National Cherry Blossom Festival and Parade in Washington. (Buddy Secor/Courtesy of the National Cherry Blossom Festival)
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- March 18, 2013: The National Cherry Blossom Festival and Parade in Washington. (Ron Engle/Courtesy of the National Cherry Blossom Festival)
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- March 27, 2012: U.S. first lady Michelle Obama takes part in a 1912 Cherry Blossom tree planting re-enactment ceremony with Yoriko Fujisaki near the Tidal Basin and along the Potomac River in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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- March 22, 2012: Cherry blossoms in full bloom on trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 19, 2012: The Washington Monument in Washington, DC is seen as a back drop to the Cherry blossoms, which have come full bloom due to the early warm weather along the East coast of the US. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 19, 2012: The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC is seen as a back drop to the Cherry blossoms, which have come full bloom due to the early warm weather along the East coast of the US. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 19, 2012: The Jefferson Memorial is seen behind cherry blossoms, which have come into full bloom due to the early warm weather along the East coast of the US, in Washington. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 18, 2012: People paddle a boat on the Tidal Basin during the first bloom of the cherry blossoms in Washington. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)
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- March 17, 2012: Jefferson Memorial is seen trough cherry blossom trees adjacent to the Tidal Basin on the National Mall in Washington, DC. (Mladan Antonov/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 15, 2012: People ride a paddleboat as cherry blossom trees begin to bloom adjacent to the Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 14, 2012: Early cherry blossoms bloom for the 100th anniversary of the first cherry trees given to the Capitol by Japan in 1912. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)
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- March 30, 2011: A boy climbs into a tree to photograph blossoms near the Washington Monument in Washington. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
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- March 29, 2011: The Washington Monument is seen through cherry blossoms on in Washington, DC. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 29, 2011: A woman takes pictures of cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 28, 2011: Local artist Justin Pyles puts the finishing touches on some of his cherry blossom painings along the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 25, 2011: Cherry blossoms are seen at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
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- March 25, 2011: A man draws as cherry trees start to bloom by Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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- March 23, 2011: Sightseers are pictured under the early blooms of cherry trees as they stroll along the Tidal Basin in Washington. (Stelios Varias/Files/Reuters)
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- March 31, 2009: The Jefferson Memorial amid blooming cherry trees in Washington, DC. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
Cherry Blossom Festival in the pink for 2013
The 101st event centers on birth, renewal and a blend of two cultures
By Laura Lefavor, For The Baltimore Sun
1:28 p.m. EDT, April 5, 2013
When it comes to spring color, Washington knows how to put on a show.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival blossoms each year to commemorate the gift of some 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo to the nation’s capital in 1912.
While the festival had modest beginnings, the event has since evolved into a springtime celebration that attracts millions of visitors from around the world.
“It’s truly amazing how a gift from over 100 years ago has now reached so many people,” says Diana Mayhew, the festival’s president.
This year, that gift will keep on giving, as an expected 1.5 million people descend upon the nation’s capitol to see the blooming cherry trees in Washington’s Tidal Basin. According to Mayhew, the trees are doing very well after the relatively mild winter. Peak bloom, or when 70 percent of the trees are in flower, will not come as early this year because of recent cold temperatures. UPDATE: Officials forecast the majority of the blooms will be making their grand appearances April 6-8.
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dee terrell
Apr 05, 2013 @ 02:16:00
That looks like the Jefferson to me…Washington is long and lean….I don;t think either one of you know what you are talking about…
Pat Piper
Mar 23, 2013 @ 10:36:46
That’s a beaver, not a squirrel. The beaver is used as the cherry blossom mascot by the National Park Service. In fact they have someone dressed up as “Paddles” who greets tourists during the cherry blossom festival Secondly, that’s the Washington Monument, not the Jefferson memorial in the photo..
Nick Tann
Mar 25, 2013 @ 09:20:41
You are absolutely correct. Thanks for noticing these errors. Wire photo captions get entered very quickly and I don’t always catch all the mistakes before posting them.