Ornamental cherry blossoms are some of the most famous flowers in New York, and they’re basically gone as soon as they arrive.
Ornamental cherry trees, with their iconic pink and white blossoms, have been a staple of New York City parks since the early 1900s.
Their story began in 1909 with a celebration. New York was celebrating two major milestones: 300 years since Henry Hudson explored the Hudson River, and 100 years since Robert Fulton launched the first commercially successful steamboat on it. Many countries contributed to the celebration, sending warships or other naval displays to participate in a grand parade.
But Japan took a different route, instead sending 2,500 cherry blossoms as a gift symbolizing peace.
These original saplings were planted all across upper Manhattan, some in Riverside Park, some in Central Park, but a large cluster of them were planted in a small park near Columbia.
To honor the gift, the park was renamed Sakura Park.
After the initial gift of 2,500 trees–most of which sadly died or rotted away in transit–interest in cherry blossoms exploded across the city.
According to the most recent tree census, there are almost 40,000 ornamental cherry trees throughout the five boroughs, and the parks have started tracking their bloom status each year.
Central Park reports about its clusters of cherry trees on its website, and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden has the cheekily named CherryWatch, reporting which of its trees are in peak bloom in highly granular detail.
Ultimately, cherry blossoms are inherently fleeting; each tree blossoms for only around 10 days. So take some time this to go out and revel in the joy of spring and see some cherry blossoms while you still can.
As the trees start to leaf out, do you have a favorite tree of your own?