Cherry blossom city boasts colors of spring

WASHINGTON — Cherry blossoms may be a sign of spring in the nation's capital, but visitors who don't take time to stop and smell the flowers are missing both a visual and sensual treat.

"Nothing compares with the beauty of the early spring blooms in the national capital area," said David Ellis, spokesman for the American Horticultural Society. Daffodils, tulips and forsythia begin blooming in late March, although the cherry blossoms of the Tidal Basin generate the most headlines.

The AHS hosts "Washington Blooms" events throughout April at its George Washington River Farms headquarters in Alexandria, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington. Formal beds on the grounds erupt with the bold colors and vibrant pastels of spring as early as mid-March.

National Park Service officials have indicated that the peak bloom for the cherry blossoms will occur between March 24 and April 2. That's when 70 percent of the 3,700 trees are expected to be visible. The bloom coincides with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs March 27 through April 11.

"There should be plenty of blossoms remaining on the trees Saturday, April 3, for the festival parade," said National Park Service spokesman Bill Line.

The trees are mostly descendants of those presented to the United States by Japan in 1912 to mark 60 years of friendly relations.

The annual Cherry Blossom Festival has traditionally marked the beginning of the tourism season for the national capital region. The spring flower bonanza is a prelude to the May 27-30 opening weekend of the National World War II Memorial, and September's grand opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

The Tidal Basin cherry trees are only a small fraction of Washington's flora. In fact, the nation's capital is considered by many to be one of the most landscaped cities in the Western world.

"We plant about 100,000 bulbs on the Capitol grounds every fall," said Matthew Evans, senior landscape architect and horticulturist for the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. Besides the formal display beds, the grounds are also dotted with naturalized plantings of tulips, daffodils and anemones. As temperatures warm, those beds are taken over by huge plantings of canna lilies throughout the summer.

Groundskeepers employed by Congress care for 274 acres around the Capitol complex and adjacent parks. Among the more than 4,000 trees included in the landscaping are southern magnolias, oaks, flowering crab apples, golden rain trees and horse chestnuts.