Celebrating Washington’s famed cherry blossoms
This year’s bloom came very early
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) -Washington’s famous Yoshino cherry trees were originally a gift from Japan in 1912. More than 11 decades later, their blooms paint the cold hard ashphalt and marble avenues of the American capital with irresistible pink and bringing millions to the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which started Wednesday, March 20.
Thanks to the recent warm weather in Washington D.C., the cherry blossoms are already in peak bloom. The blossoms certainly make for a beautiful picture, according to Jennifer Chang, visiting from Colorado.
“I think it’s like such a spiritual experience. It’s really one of the few things that’s kind of like heaven on earth, right? You have just these beautiful, beautiful flowers that are surrounding you and so many folks that are here to enjoy the beauty, soak it in, see the sunrise, a beautiful thing to just bring strangers together. So for me, a very spiritual, soulful experience.”
Every year, visitors from near and far come to enjoy the pink canopy of blossoms, including Valarie Gutta of Michigan.
“It’s really nice to see all the diverse people down here that are really interested in it. It just gives a good feel for people coming together in a time when we’re sort of divided. It’s nice to see everybody enjoying something together.”
And this year is everyone’s last chance to catch one local favorite, a tree nicknamed stumpy, just one of the 140 trees slated for removal. Mike Litterst is the spokesman for the National Park Service & the National Mall
“We’re getting ready to embark on a $130 million construction project to rebuild the seawalls around the Tidal Basin, keep the water where it’s supposed to be. To do that, we’re going to have to move about 140 of the 1700 cherry trees around the Tidal Basin. One of those is sort of the local folk tree. Hero Stumpy, who victim of water twice a day from the tides is all but disintegrating.”
Stumpy has become so popular, there’s even a mascot of the tree which is mostly just one branch and a cherry tree stump. Mike Litterst says there’s a plan to make certain Stumpy lives on.
“All of the trees that we’re taking down will be mulched. They will return to the National Mall. Spread around the tree roots to protect them from all the foot traffic. And is that mulch breaks down and becomes soil, and that soil provides nutrients for the trees for generations to come. It’s an appropriate and beneficial second life for all the trees.”
For now, Stumpy is getting a well-deserved starved send off, with visitors leaving tokens, such as a bottle of Makers’ Mark whisky.
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