The iconic cherry trees decorating the nation’s capital will hit peak bloom between March 29 and April 1, the National Park Service predicted Thursday.
And for fans of Stumpy, the beloved scraggly tree razed two years ago, officials brought good news: They’re ready to start planting offspring clonedfrom its clippings.
The announcements were made during a preview of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the annual event commemorating the 3,000 cherry trees Japan gifted to the United States in 1912.
The National Park Service declares peak bloom when 70 percent of the Yoshino blossoms around the Tidal Basin, the reservoir on the National Mall, have opened.
Kevin Griess, superintendent of National Mall and Memorial Parks, said the weather could affect the timing of peak bloom, noting this winter has been colder. Still, he said there could be more than 10 days of blooms this year.
The cherry blossom festival, which will run from March 20 to April 12, typically draws more than 1.6 million people each year, officials said.
The festival “does more than welcome a new season,” David Moran, chair of the festival’s board of directors, said at a news conference Thursday at The Mayflower Hotel. “It brings a renewed sense of joy and vitality to our entire region.”
The cherry trees in the District were gifted by Japan more than a century ago as a symbol of friendship. The country will gift an additional 250 cherry trees this year in honor of the United States’ 250th-anniversary celebration, Masatsugu Odaira, minister for public affairs for the Japanese Embassy, said Thursday.
“No matter who you are, under these trees you feel a quiet sense of connection to the people around you, and perhaps, in a small way, to Japan as well,” Odaira said.
The National Park Service also will plant 150 more trees, some with celebrity lineage. Some grew from clippings taken from Stumpy, which long stood in the Tidal Basin before being removed as part of a sea wall construction project in 2024.
Construction for that sea wall project is finished, but the work zone in the southern Tidal Basin will remain closed to visitors for now, Griess said in an interview. He also said a recent sewage spill in the Potomacshould not effect celebrations, citing assurances from D.C. Water.
This year’s festival will feature an opening ceremony of traditional Japanese sword dancers, a parade along Constitution Avenue, a “pink tie” fashion show at Union Station and a street party at Navy Yard.
The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang, which independently estimates peak bloom, predicted it could happen between April 3 and April 7, potentially more than a week later than last year. The last time peak bloom happened this late was April 5, 2018.
Still, no matter when the trees decide to show their full colors, the start of spring — and the reincarnation of Stumpy — is sure to again draw flocks of people downtown to take in the flowering blossoms.
“Whatever happens in this world, we still have this beautiful spring season,” said festival CEO and president Diana Mayhew.
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