Cherry Trees

The original cherry tree planting in Washington 100 years ago was directed by Baltimore-born Col. Spencer Cosby, who helped develop Potomac Park as superintendent of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds. Cosby worked with the Japanese government on making sure their gift of 3,000 trees arrived and passed inspection. On March 27, 1912, the first two cherry trees were planted, one by first lady Helen Herron Taft and the other by Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, according to the National Park Service.

Even as they turn 100, Washington's cherry trees in full bloom remain as wondrously beautiful as ever — which explains why more than a million people are expected to come gaze at them over the next five weeks. D.C.'s annual Cherry Blossom Festival, perhaps the most welcome harbinger of spring anywhere in the U.S., begins Tuesday (the first day of spring) and runs through April 27 (Arbor Day). Expanded from its customary 19 days in celebration of the trees' 100th anniversary, the schedule includes fireworks, a parade, live music, visits from Japanese dignitaries and entertainers, and even a commemorative stamp from the U.S. Postal Service.

WASHINGTON -- More than 3,000 cherry trees are poised to blossom in Washington this week, just in time for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival.According to the National Park Service, the pink and white flowers are expected to start opening between Thursday and Saturday.But a weather change could move up -- or push back -- the date the flowers are expected to open so it's hard to make an exact prediction. Earle Kittleman of the National Park Service said the fragile blossoms last less than a week, and he warned that cold weather, high winds or heavy rains can ruin the flowers.

The original cherry tree planting in Washington 100 years ago was directed by Baltimore-born Col. Spencer Cosby, who helped develop Potomac Park as superintendent of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds. Cosby worked with the Japanese government on making sure their gift of 3,000 trees arrived and passed inspection. On March 27, 1912, the first two cherry trees were planted, one by first lady Helen Herron Taft and the other by Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, according to the National Park Service.

Spring arrives in Washington with the blooming of the Japanese cherry trees, an event that attracts over half a million visitors annually.It was in 1912 that the first trees were shipped to Washington from Japan as a gesture of friendship between the two countries. The first tree was planted by first lady Helen Herron Taft, and two decades later a festival was held to celebrate the blooming of the trees.This year's National Cherry Blossom Festival, which opens next Sunday and runs through April 12, commemorates the 80th anniversary of the gift of the cherry trees.

Q. How do you get rid of fire blight in sweet cherry trees? At least that's what I think is wrong. Last summer, some of my young shoots wilted and died and one branch died back. I want to prevent the problem this coming season. A. Cherry trees don't get fire blight. You may have a couple of different problems. Oriental fruit moth larvae may have entered the young shoots, causing wilting and death. Or the shoots may have been damaged by very cold temperatures. The branch dieback was probably caused by a canker disease.

WASHINGTON - This is the story of a recent trip here to look at the famous cherry trees and take in the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which is like Super Bowl Week for cherry-blossom aficionados, only with less partying. As you may or may not know, the festival commemorates the gift of 3,000 cherry trees given by the mayor of Tokyo to the people of Washington in 1912. "Someday," the Japanese mayor predicted in a note accompanying the gift, "hundreds of thousands of people will descend on your fair city to admire these trees, creating horrendous traffic gridlock, vast parking shortages and a litter problem of staggering proportions.

At the Elkridge Branch Library last week, 4-year-old Symantha Sanders of Laurel eagerly added more white tissue paper to a 2-foot tall triangular wooden frame that was covered in pink and white tissue paper sheets, purple streamers, white paper hearts and lots of glue. Symantha and her mother, Jeanette Gossett, were attracted to the workshop by the arts and crafts, but they were quickly drawn in by the larger purpose to get people involved in Blossoms of Hope: The Howard County Cherry Tree Project.

Who is taking down the precious Japanese cherry trees in the Tidal Basin, during Cherry Blossom Festival? Not extremists. In the city named for the Father of Our Country, the National Park Service cannot tell a lie: A beaver is doing it.Like buzzard hawks circling the Jones Falls Expressway, deer chewing up parts of Roland Park or the coyote that invaded New York's Central Park, beaver have reacted to loss of habitat by reinvading what humans took away...

WASHINGTON -- The United States is at war in Kosovo. President Clinton is playing host to Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji at the White House.And this city, which considers itself the center of the political universe, is awash in beaver fever."

On Thursday, my iPad said the temperature was 75.  Daffodils and crocuses all over Baltimore bloomed. Ditto Okame cherry trees. The buds on Yoshinos cherry trees swelled, but they did not open to create the pink ballerina tutus that make Yoshinos famous.   That is a good thing. The current warm-up continued a warmer than usual winter. Much warmer than usual. So warm that for the first time since I started using Dracaena plants at the center of my summer annual containers, they did not die back in winter.

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The wind split one of our cherry trees in two, and since it was unlikely that the tree would survive, I cut it down and added it to a firewood pile, after I spent the better part of a morning getting our gasoline-powered chain saw to start and operate without stalling. There had to be a better way to saw trees and limbs, I thought. Then it occurred to me. Maybe I should try using an electric chain saw, because even though I was once dissatisfied with their power, it's been decades since I've used one, and saws have improved with time since they were first created by Perdix.

Talk about being in the pink. Despite February's record blizzards, the 3,700 cherry trees in Washington's Tidal Basin have been shaped and pruned into tip-top condition. And they're right on schedule to erupt in a froth of cotton-candy-colored petals during the 98th National Cherry Blossom Festival, which begins Saturday. "There was a little bit more damage done to the branches this year because of the seven feet of snow we received this season," says Diana Mayhew, the Festival's president.

national cherry blossom festival Where:: Washington. When:: Now through April 12. What:: Annual Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the people of Tokyo to the people of Washington in 1912. Many activities and exhibits, including boat rides, film showings, the Freedom Walk, bike rides, a kite festival and more can be enjoyed by visitors. The annual parade, sponsored by Southwest Airlines, kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday with a multitude of celebrity appearances, including singer Thelma Houston, Miss America 2009 Katie Stam, Elmo and Jeopardy!

Go here: Fredericksburg, the boyhood home of George Washington, is neatly laid out in a rectangular grid of one-way, tree-shaded streets. The map provided by the Visitor Center points out the conveniently grouped historic sights and estimates walking time. However, it's difficult to take an uninterrupted stroll through Fredericksburg, for there are too many distractions. Antiques shops, modern galleries, venerable old houses turned into B&Bs all compete for your attention with museums and historic churches.

WASHINGTON -- Trisha Yearwood croons on the radio as Rick Johnson bumps over the curb in a truck marked Property of the U.S. Government. He eases it onto the grass and shoves it in park in a grove of cherry trees. It's just before 7 a.m.He and his crew have only a day to pretty up about 200 cherr trees on this grassy slope off Independence Avenue. Already, dirt and bark are smeared on their Rough Rider gloves and all over their forest green National Park Service dungarees.The early-morning traffic whizzes by and leaves them unimpressed.

On Thursday, my iPad said the temperature was 75.  Daffodils and crocuses all over Baltimore bloomed. Ditto Okame cherry trees. The buds on Yoshinos cherry trees swelled, but they did not open to create the pink ballerina tutus that make Yoshinos famous.   That is a good thing. The current warm-up continued a warmer than usual winter. Much warmer than usual. So warm that for the first time since I started using Dracaena plants at the center of my summer annual containers, they did not die back in winter.

The second annual Cherrybration brought leisure, laughter and lights to Centennial Park with family activities, crafts, music and a parade of lanterns at dusk. Organizers estimated more than 1,000 people of all ages attended Saturday's free outdoor festival, which is part of Howard County Tourism Inc.'s Blossoms of Hope project. Over four years, the Blossoms of Hope effort has planted more than 1,250 cherry trees in Howard County and, through sponsorships of trees on public land and other efforts, raised more than $56,000 for the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center in Columbia.

At the Elkridge Branch Library last week, 4-year-old Symantha Sanders of Laurel eagerly added more white tissue paper to a 2-foot tall triangular wooden frame that was covered in pink and white tissue paper sheets, purple streamers, white paper hearts and lots of glue. Symantha and her mother, Jeanette Gossett, were attracted to the workshop by the arts and crafts, but they were quickly drawn in by the larger purpose to get people involved in Blossoms of Hope: The Howard County Cherry Tree Project.