SEATTLE — The University of Washington’s cherry blossoms have burst into bunches of pale pink and white.
After an unusually warm weekend, the 29 cherry blossom trees in the Quad were expected to reach peak bloom — classified as when at least 70% of buds have emerged — on Tuesday, according to UW arborist Sara Shores. Peak bloom typically begins during the third full week of March and goes into the fourth week of March.
As of Monday, about 50-60% of the buds in the UW Quad had bloomed, according to the university. The recent warm weather helped the buds bloom, boosting them from only about 2% in bloom Friday.
Lower temperatures, less rain and lighter winds are expected to help keep the blossoms on the trees through the end of the month. Arborists estimate the last two weekends of March will provide ideal viewing conditions.
The timing for peak bloom varies each year based on weather conditions the developing buds are exposed to in January, February and March. Last year, the blossoms reached peak bloom in early April, a little later than usual due to a colder-than-usual start to meteorological spring.
“In order to reach peak bloom, buds need to accumulate a certain number of both cold and warm days, known as ‘growing degree days,’” said Marlee Theil, a UW graduate student in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences.
The main species of cherry tree on the UW campus is Yoshino, including the 29 iconic trees in the Quad. The Yoshino cherry trees are nearly 90 years old and were originally planted at Washington Park Arboretum before the university transplanted the trees to the Quad in 1964, according to UW.
The university has more than 100 cherry trees across campus, including the Higan, Hisakura, Kwanzan, Mt. Fuji and Shirofugen varieties.
Those who can’t make it in person can still see the blossoms on UW Video’s live webcam overlooking the Quad.
UW offers tips on how to distinguish cherry trees from plum trees: Cherry trees have distinct horizontal-line patterns on their bark called lenticels. Plum trees are mistaken for cherry trees, though they bloom earlier than most cherries and have no lenticels on their bark.
