Cherry Blossom Watch: April 1, 2024

We’re now over two weeks since peak bloom, and remarkably, there are still flowers hanging on, even through the recent rain. It’s been one of the longer blooms, helped enormously by consistently cool temperatures for the past couple of weeks.

But they’re looking pretty ragged and tired now. Many trees are bare or close to it and leafing out. There are also still trees that look surprisingly good. You can still find plenty of flowers out, and there are even more petals on the ground with thick cherry blossom snow. The freshest grouping is over on the stretch between the MLK Memorial and the Japanese Lantern; those trees have been lagging a little behind all season.

The weather for the next couple of days won’t be kind to them, with more rain and thunderstorms expected on and off through tomorrow. Many petals came down in this morning’s rain and early-morning thunderstorms, and more will continue to fall. The only thing working in their favor at this point is the cooler temperatures, but that can only carry them so far.

So if you want to catch a final peak of this year’s cherry blossoms, even in their fading twilight days, I’d go sooner rather than later.

Kwanzan Cherry Blossoms. I have some photos taken this morning below. There’s a very small number of scattered flowers starting to come out, but the vast majority aren’t quite there yet.

Tulips at the Floral Library. They’re starting to look great! (There’s a photo from this morning of the Floral Library included below.)

Final regular update for this bloom. This will be the final regular Cherry Blossom Watch update for this year’s bloom. Thank you to everyone for following along! I’ll post a season wrap up in the next day or two. And I will continue adding some updates on the Kwanzan cherry blossoms until they bloom. Those updates will only appear here on the website, not through the social channels. So be sure to check back if you’re interested in those.

Buying Photo Prints

I’ve had several people asking about buying prints of my photos of the cherry blossoms (framed and unframed). Thank you! I’m flattered and appreciate the support–my photography is, after all, my day job.

I’m pleased to say that the move to the new and improved print and framing vendor is now done, and you can find my cherry blossom prints for sale here. It includes a number of photos from this year’s bloom, as well as some shots from previous years.

The prints are available framed and unframed. If there’s a specific photo you have in mind that you don’t see among the selection, drop me a line by email and I’ll do my best to add it.

How it Looks at the Tidal Basin This Morning

Here’s how it was looking at the Tidal Basin on this damp morning. I’ve tried to include a fairly representative sampling to give a sense of what you could expect to see if you were to go down to the Tidal Basin today.

Kwanzan Cherry Blossoms

Traffic & Parking

Traffic is light, and parking is really no problem, but the one-way restrictions along Ohio Drive are still in place.

The Paddle Boat parking lot is still closed.

The Welcome Center on West Basin Drive is still set up and open for business.