Washington D.C.’s 2022 Cherry Blossom Festival

2022 National Cherry Blossom Festival

The cherry blossoms were in peak bloom in late March and I was lucky enough to be downtown to see them before the rains came. The story behind these trees is very interesting. Apparently the Japanese heard that the U.S. First Lady was interested in planting cherry trees in D.C. and decided to donate 2000 trees as a sign of friendship between the two countries. When the trees arrived in 1910, they were infested with bugs and the trees had to be destroyed. In 1912, Japan sent 3000 more trees of 12 different varieties to replace the buggy batch. Some of those original trees still stand today near the statue of John Paul Jones along the Tidal Basin. On my visit there were quite a few trees that while blooming, did not look particularly healthy. The blooms did make for a nice day for photography and a few of my favorite shots are below.

We parked in East Potomac Park, which is only about a quarter mile walk to the Tidal Basin. Once at the basin near the Jefferson Memorial, we decided to take a clockwise route around the Tidal Basin.

I love the curve of the sidewalk and the reflections in the water on this photo. I hope to paint this one at some point.

The first Cherry Bloosom Festival was held in 1935 and within just a few years it was attracting thousands of visitors to D.C. every year. We went on a weekday morning and so the crowds were very manageable. A few years back we went on a weekend and it was elbow to elbow.

Part of the way around, we came upon this stone Japanese Pagoda among the cherry Trees. It was a gift from Japan in 1958 as another token of friendship. There is also a stone Japanese Lantern standing in the trees, but somehow I missed that one on this walk.

You can see in the photo below how gnarly the cherry tree trunks are after all these years. I found the trunks to be almost as beautiful as the blossoms. Some of these may be part of a gift of 3,200 Yoshino cherry trees that was given in 1965.