Washington's Asia Connection: Part II - Cherry Trees

In 1912, the Mayor of Tokyo City, Yukio Ozaki, made a gift of Japanese cherry trees to the US capital of Washington, DC as a gesture of goodwill and cooperation between the US and Japan. The initial gift of 3023 cherry trees enhanced the National Mall, particularly the area around the TIdal Basin, which now is the site of Jefferson Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. The annual Cherry Blossom Festival has become a hugely popular attraction, as has predicting the precise timing of "peak bloom."

Read

The warm winter means cherry blossoms will peak early — here’s how soon it could be

By Angela Fritz

The Washington Post

February 21, 2017