The cherry trees of washington dc

Every spring the Washington area bursts into a spectacular display of color as the local flowering cherry trees begin to bloom. Several thousand cherry trees throughout the District of Colombia blossom with extraordinary pink flowers, many of which reflect off the water in the Tidal Basin. The effect is so overwhelming that Washington holds a two-week party just to celebrate this rite of passage into spring. But Washington wasn’t always so colorful, and it took White House intervention and the generosity of the Japanese to make Washington bloom.

In 1885 Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore had just returned from a trip to Japan. Awestruck at the beauty of Japanese flowering cherry trees, Eliza envisioned transplanting the trees along the Potomac waterfront. The government agency in charge of public lands, however, was not as impressed and rejected Eliza’s idea. But Eliza was persistent in her mission. She was thrilled to hear – twenty four years later -- that the Chevy Chase Land Company had ordered 300 Japanese trees to be planted along Independence Avenue, SW. An officer with the US Agriculture Department, by the name of Dr. David Fairchild, had also taken a liking to the Japanese cherry trees. To test the trees’ adaptability to Washington’s climate, Dr. Fairchild ordered one hundred trees from Yokohama Nursery Company of Japan. He planted the trees on his nearby property. When the trees survived the winter, producing their showy spring display, the Chevy Chase Land Company agreed that the trees would make a nice addition to the Washington landscape.

Eliza was further aided by a little bit of luck. It just so happened that the famous Japanese chemist, Dr. Jokichi Takamine was visiting the Japanese counsel in New York, Mr. Midzuno. When Dr. Takamine heard of the plan to introduce Japanese cherry trees to Washington, he was so pleased with the idea that he agreed to donate 2000 trees to the project. Mr. Midzuno suggested that the trees be an official gift to Washington from the city of Tokyo.

Eliza and her cohorts couldn’t be more pleased when the trees actually arrived in Washington in 1910. But then tragedy struck. American customs agents declared that the trees were infested with insects and could not be planted for fear of infecting American agriculture. President Taft was forced to order all the trees burned, creating quite a diplomatic quagmire. Questions have arisen as to whether or not the trees were truly infected, as the Japanese nursery had certified them before leaving Japanese shores. Larry Bernard, in his article for the Cornell Chronicle titled “Cherry Blossoms are Blooming in Washington, DC”, cites the cherry tree incident as one of the first occasions where the US began to take a strong role in regulating goods flowing into and out of the country. But rejection or approval for these goods could sometimes be based on emotion rather than fact. There were plenty of Washingtonians who did not feel ‘foreign’ trees should be planted on native soil. If the beauty of Washington would be reflected in its horticulture, the plants should then be indigenous to the country.

But neither Eliza nor Dr. Takamine were discouraged. Dr. Takamine agreed to supply another batch of trees. By 1912, 3020 trees representing twelve different cherry tree varieties safely arrived in DC. Mrs. Taft and the wife of the Japanese Ambassador planted the first two trees in a quiet ceremony near the tidal basin. Those two trees are marked today with a commemorative plaque.

Since the first plantings, the trees bloomed every year and were admired by Washingtonians. But the seasonal bloom was no cause for celebration until a group of school children reenacted the original planting in 1927. By 1935 local civic groups organized Washington’s first Cherry Blossom Festival. The Cherry Blossom Festival has now become an annual event in the area, marking spring’s unofficial entry. 2001 marked the 89th Cherry Blossom Festival which now lasts for two weeks and draws around 700,000 visitors from all over the country.

Washington’s Cherry Blossom Festival is also a cultural event. Past exhibits have included Japanese sword demonstrations and a street festival full of vendors of Japanese goods and food. Japanese and American entertainment shows are staged throughout the duration of the festival. Other attractions include the Blossom Parade, soccer tournaments and basketball competitions, the lighted boat parade, crew races and rugby skirmishes, and a luncheon cruise along the Potomac River. And of course there is the Festival Gala where the Cherry Blossom Festival Queen is crowned with the Mikimoto Crown donated by Japan every year.

The Festival can not always depend on Mother Nature to cooperate, however. The blooms depend on the weather. If a cold snap hits, the premature buds may freeze, delaying a bloom by several weeks. Unseasonably warm weather could trigger blooms well before the Festival is set to take place in the first two weeks of April. According to the National Park Service, the earliest the blooms have ever peaked was March 15, 1990 and the latest was April 18, 1958.

The Japanese cherry trees have proven to be the gift that keeps on giving. The amity established between Japan and the US with the gift of the trees has endured through several other gift exchanges. In 1954, the Japanese government gave Washington a large stone lantern. In 1958, the Mayor of Yokohama offered a carved stone pagoda to grace the beauty of the trees. In 1965, the Japanese sent more trees to Washington. In return, Washington has continuously provided Japan with cuttings from the original stock of trees. The cuttings are grafted onto old trees in Tokyo to maintain the lineage of the stock.

The cherry trees of Washington have become a source of pride for the local population Their profuse blooms make a stroll along the Potomac all the more pleasurable. If George Washington had been around to see the display, he certainly would have never dreamed of chopping down any cherry tree. Now all the National Park Service must do is keep those hungry beavers under control.

Source: National Park Service at www.nps.gov, “Cherry Blossoms are Blooming in Washington, DC” by Larry Bernard at http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/96/4.4.96/cherrytrees.html