kwren

Driving to Virginia last month, we decided to detour through Washington, and boy were we glad we did! The cherry blossoms were at their peak and were spectacular! If you've never seen them before, take a look:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...3&l=b539cc103c

Elisabeth54

Thank you for posting these wonderful pictures. They bring back fond memories of the time when I lived in the Washington area some 35 years ago!

panecott

Beautiful pictures.

You must have been there in early or mid March? I went from the 29th - 31st but the blossoms were all gone. The Cherry Blossom Festival website had said that would be peak blooming period, but I guess the crazy warm weather threw them off and they bloomed earlier than usual.

kwren

Yes panecott, you were there about a week too late. My pictures were from March 22. We were so lucky to be just driving by that day and heard on the radio later that that day was actually the peak day.

Which brings me to how in the world to plan to see the tulips blooming in Holland. I would die if I made all sorts of arrangements and paid airfare only to arrive too late...and I so want to see them someday!

yestravel

U were very lucky time wise. We went down on Saturday, 3/24, and they were on their way out already. Ground and benches were covered in all the pink petals - pretty nice sight.

kwren

I can see that the Saturday would have been worse yestravel - when we were there, every time there was a little breeze petals rained down.

We almost decided to stop on the way back from Virginia (the 24th) instead of the 22nd and am so glad we didn't. There was a possibility of rain for Saturday so we went earlier and it worked out perfectly for us.

kathieAHPlanner

Very nice pictures! Some very cool close-ups! Thanks for sharing.

panecott

I was talking with a ranger at a kiosk near the Washington Monument and I said, "I haven't seen any cherry blossoms", and he replied, "And you won't either". LOL.

It's really odd b/c the website gave a span of about 8-10 days for "peak" blooming period, but this year it was really, really short. Again, I guess it was the crazy weather.

But at least I got to see your pictures, kwren.

And I was there for the kite festival on Saturday and that was great fun - people of all shapes, sizes, ages, etc., with such a variety of kites, and wonderful windy weather!

BTW, somebody told me that the cherry trees have a life span of about 60 years, so the existing ones are replacements for the originals that were donated by Japan 100 years ago. Interesting bit of trivia.

yestravel

Trees blossomed very early this year and were short lived due to the winds. Everything in the DC area has bloomed early. I fear May maybe a rather drab month without the normal azaleas and flowers that generally bloom then.

kwren

Glad I could provide pictures for those of you who missed the cherry blossoms, and happy you liked them too! Thanks

ChicagoDallasGirl

What a beautiful display!!! I SO hope to visit that time of year one day...

kwren

Not exactly cherry blossoms, but a friend sent me this link to a video of flowers opening up and it's so beautiful I had to share it!

http://player.vimeo.com/video/279209...ortrait=0href=