It was a picture-perfect weekend to enjoy the peak of the cherry blossoms at the University of Washington.
Seems like all Seattleites came out of their dark homes to enjoy the blue skies, yellow sun, and pink and white flowers. Backs were twisted, dogs lifted, and families gathered to get the perfect shot.
Check out the slideshow above for a glimpse of the action, including the guy with a 40-foot monopod who sent his SLR skyward.
How many, many things
They call to mind
These cherry-blossoms!
— Basho (R. H. Blyth trans.)
A cool, blustery start to spring will delay the cherry blossoms’ blooming at the University of Washington, says Sara Shores, campus arborist. Full bloom may arrive around Saturday, April 6, but if the weather warms, as early as Easter weekend. The UW Visitors Center keeps track of cherry blossoms daily, on Facebook. Altogether, the blooming season lasts two to three weeks.
If you visit campus, you may want to print out the Brockman Memorial Tree Tour map, which lists and locates some 67 of the estimated 480 kinds of trees planted around the university grounds, including the Kwanzan Cherry (Rainier Vista near Stevens Way), Yoshino Cherry (31 of which line the Quad), and Hisakura Cherry (near Red Square). If you can’t make it — here’s Pinterest to the rescue.
The Japanese Garden in the Arboretum has Kwanzan Cherry as well, and Shirotae (“Mount Fuji”) Cherry. Beginning later in spring, they hold tea ceremonies there, as well.
Finally, after the last blossoms are likely to have fallen, Seattle Center is the venue for the Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival, April 26 through the 28, with Taiko drumming, ikebana flower arrangements, visual arts, plus a variety of Japanese cuisine and tea ceremony demonstrations.
Yes, it’s been mere weeks since we put a gorgeous shot of cherry blossoms in your face, but we couldn’t resist GregPierceImages‘s up close and personal shot of these local blooms. Plus, they won’t be out there for much longer, so please go enjoy them IRL while you can. Ah, spring…
As we recently learned, one of a Seattle spring’s most lovely sights may lose its timeliness over the next century as ugly ol’ climate change continues to rear its head. However, while the cherry blossoms are appearing ever earlier on the other coast, they seem mostly on schedule this year for their annual delighting of visitors to the University of Washington quad (“the first week of spring quarter,” we remember noting during our time as an undergrad). Thanks to hardlylove for snapping this shot just as the white-pink blooms began their cotton candy mimicking. Want to see for yourself? The UW Visitors Center helps you track it over here. But don’t wait too long – by mid-April they’ll be gone, leaving only shirtless frat boys playing frisbee for your viewing pleasure.
Cherry blossoms are in the news. Way over in the “other Washington,” they are celebrating 100 years of cherry blossom festivals. They are not celebrating, to my knowledge, not having to wait as long for the blossoms to make an appearance, but according to researchers at the University of Washington, that’s what’s been happening over the past 60 years, a trend expected to continue in our climate-changing future.
Knowing you’ll want more proof than peer-reviewed academic papers, I have turned to Twitter for inarguable evidence:
“Our cherry blossoms in NY have started coming, daffs are fully bloomed…insanity!!” (Garden Design Magazine)
“It’s spring! The jasmine is in bloom, the cherry blossoms are falling and the scent of gardenia is in the air! Does anyone have an Allegra?” (Ellen Degeneres)
“Cherry blossoms in #DC open almost 2 weeks early! See the photos of the lovely #spring scenes along the Tidal Basin.” (MSNBC Pictures)
Soo-Hyung Kim, UW assistant professor of environmental and forest sciences, is co-author with the UW’s Uran Chung and Liz Mack, and Kyung Hee University’s Jin I. Yun, of a paper titled “Predicting the Timing of Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC and Mid-Atlantic States in Response to Climate Change.”
It’s not just to help cherry-blossom watchers plan vacations; their motivation was that cherry trees make a useful indicator species for the impacts of climate change on trees, since they are so sensitive to temperature changes. Mapping out the progression of earlier bloom dates so far, they see a moderate impact:
Our results indicate that PBD at the Tidal Basin are likely to be accelerated by an average of five days by 2050 s and 10 days by 2080 s for these cultivars under a mid-range (A1B) emissions scenario projected by ECHAM5 general circulation model.
But of course things can always get worse. Another model accelerated peak bloom by almost a full month by 2080. The researchers calibrated their model, in part, by using the bloom dates of cherry blossoms on University of Washington campus. They note: “The UW has the same varieties that are most common in the Tidal Basins: Yoshino, in the UW Quad, and Kwanzan, along Rainier Vista.”
On this coast, we don’t need to feel so rushed. Our colder-than-average temperatures mean that cherry trees are just beginning to bloom. Besides, the UW Visitors Center is tracking progress toward peak bloom for you, so you won’t miss it. It’s also, I discover and/or hypothesize, a good time to visit Vancouver, BC, which is also rich in cherry blossoms.
