There are some early green buds starting to poke through on some of the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin, the area’s daffodils are coming out, as are some of the apricot blossoms and other early-spring flowering fruit trees.
It has been cooler the past few days, but February is still averaging well above normal, and it looks like that will continue through the rest of the month and into March.
All indications at the moment suggest that DC’s cherry blossoms will bloom early this year. There’s always some uncertainty, because an Arctic blast coming in and settling over us can slow things down dramatically. But I’ve not yet heard any suggestions of that happening anytime soon.
The earliest bloom of DC’s cherry blossoms is March 15 (in 1990). Whether that record is under threat should become clearer over the next couple of weeks as the peak bloom forecasts are announced.
Climate Change and the Cherry Blossoms
The topic of how climate change is affecting the cherry blossoms has been coming up a lot lately. A few years ago, the National Park Service put together a very interesting video on the effects of climate change on DC’s cherry blossoms.
How it Looks This Morning
Here are a few shots that I took this morning to give an idea of how it’s currently looking at the Tidal Basin.
Flowering Fruit Trees Nearby
There’s a small cluster of apricot and other flowering fruit trees just across the street behind the MLK Memorial, in an area called Ash Woods, next to the DC World War I Memorial. These photos were taken there this morning.
Things Happening Nearby
Elsewhere near the Tidal Basin:
- The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is being drained for repairs.
- The Jefferson Memorial is covered in scaffolding to clean the domed roof.
- The water features of the FDR Memorial are still drained and turned off.
Photographing Flowers
At this time of year, there are beautiful flowers to be had all over the place. Maybe in your backyard. Maybe in the local park.
These are ere are some of my favorite books that I've reviewed on taking photos of flowers:
- Timber Press OR
- Detrick, Alan L. (Author)
- Focal Press
- Davis, Harold (Author)
May says
It seems that NPS has lagged behind. The Washington Post “Captial weather gang” has reported on 2/21 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/02/21/indicators-early-spring-are-fluorishing-all-around-washington/):
The National Park Service has not begun its reports on the cherry blossoms’ bud phase, although they appeared to have reached the initial green bud stage based on a recent visit to the Tidal Basin.
David says
Some trees have green buds showing, and there are some examples in the photos above, but it hasn’t reached the 70 percent threshold that the NPS uses to mark the various stages.
May says
So does this mean that the “Green Buds” stage has been achieved as defined by NPS?
David says
No, not yet. The NPS stages are noted when they cross a threshold of 70 percent of the buds/blossoms being out. But not all the trees are on exactly the same schedule, and for now, there’s only a very small number showing green buds. But it’s more than a week ago…