Monday, March 31, 2008
Well spring has officially arrived in the DC Tidal Basin with the almost immediate explosion of cherry blossoms that grace thousands of trees. Over a million people visit Washington each year to admire the blossoming cherry trees and participate in the Festival that heralds the beginning of spring in the nation's capital.
Though the morning temperatures this past Saturday were in the low 40s with gusting winds, the sights made up for the chilly weather. The sun managed to peek out from time to time and I was able to get some nice shots.
The history behind the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival goes back to 1912 when Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo offered a gift to the city of Washington of 3,000 cherry trees to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan and celebrate the continued close relationship between our two peoples. The first two trees were planted by then First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador. The trees were planted on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park.
Since that initial planting, thousands of additional trees have been donated. Japanese horticulturalists came to take cuttings from the District's trees to replace Yoshino cherry trees in Japan which had been destroyed in a flood in 1981 making the giving come full circle. The most recent event in this cycle occurred in the fall of 1999. It involved the formal planting in the Tidal Basin of a new generation of cuttings from a famous Japanese cherry tree in Gifu province reputed to be over 1500 years old.
To see more images I shot at the 2008 National Cherry Blossom Festival, Click Here.
Labels: DC, Personal, Photography
posted by Steph at 10:12 AM
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