Miles from the Tidal Basin, an alternative for cherry blossom lovers
For anyone who loves cherry blossoms but isn’t a fan of the crowds at the National Mall and the Tidal Basin, there’s another place in D.C. that offers a chance to take in the beauty of the flowering trees.
“The National Arboretum is a fantastic place to see them in bloom,” said Margaret Pooley, director of research.
“We have such a diversity of flowering cherries that we have things in bloom from right now all the way through April,” Pooley told WTOP in an interview.
While people plan their travel around the peak bloom of the cherry trees near the National Mall, Pooley said the National Arboretum provides a longer window.
“The very early flowering cherries are just starting to come into bloom, including one that we introduced called ‘First Lady,'” Pooley said.
A couple of things make that variety distinctive. “One is its really early bloom — it’s starting to come into bloom right now, and the other thing is its really dark pink flowers,” a contrast to the very pale petals on the Yoshino trees that ring the Tidal Basin.
The National Arboretum has more than a dozen varieties of flowering cherry trees, with 27 stops highlighting the plantings across 446 acres.
The research on cherry trees at the National Arboretum has been active since the 1980s and includes developing disease and pest resistant varieties.
Pooley said the USDA and the U.S. Park Service have been working together to preserve some of the original cherry trees planted on the National Mall and along the Tidal Basin in 1912.
“We worked with the Park Service and propagated some of those, and we have those now at the National Arboretum as part of our sort of, conservation program so that if they ever want to plant those back, they can, and that original gift is now preserved in a permanent location,” Pooley said.
Pooley was asked if it’s sad to see the cherry blossoms peak, and then scatter in the breeze at the end of the season.
She said not really.
“I don’t really get sad because cherry blossom season and spring in general — if you’re in the plant sciences — is just such a busy season” that there can be a sense of relief after the flowering frenzy.
But, Pooley added, “It’s short-lived — but it kind of reminds you to just be in the moment, and you know, enjoy those flowers when they’re there.”
Read the National Arboretum’s guide online.