Despite cold weather in February, cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. bloomed earlier than expected. The National Park Service declared peak bloom at the tidal basin March 26. My early prediction (ten days ago) was off by four days.
Much like a dashboard GPS device might say … “Recalculating …”
March 26 : Peak bloom at Washington D.C. March 31 : Kwanzan (late-season cherry) begin bloom at Washington D.C. April 7 : Peak bloom at Philadelphia April 15 : Kwanzan (late-season cherry) begin bloom at Philadelphia April 19 : Peak bloom at Boston April 27 : Kwanzan (late-season cherry) begin bloom at Boston
March 1st, I wrote this to a friend: “Temperatures in January & February 2026 were colder than average, which may suggest peak bloom first week of April. However, the National Weather Service is predicting warmer than average temperatures in March, which would accelerate it to end of March.”
March 12 in Washington, the range of predictions regarding peak bloom at the tidal basin suggest March 28 at the earliest and April 7 at the latest. Currently in Washington D.C., according to the National Park Service, the early-blooming Okame Cherry trees were in bloom while the Yoshino Cherry trees at the Tidal Basin had reached the florets visible stage.” While Okame flowers may be affected by frost this week, blossoms that have not yet appeared and will not be affected.
On March 17, both D.C. and Boston will experience a hard freeze as temperature drops below 30º F (-1º C). Furthermore, most of this week, the daily high temperatures in Washington D.C. are very similar to temperatures in Boston Massachusetts. That’s unusual.
Unless the weather in D.C. does something very peculiar in the next 10 days, Yoshino peak bloom should hit between March 30 to April 2.
Boston
In light of how the season is developing in Washington D.C., what does that imply for cherry bloom around Boston? It’s really too early to predict, but … maybe the Okame Cherry begin blooming by mid April and the Yoshino peak bloom around last week of April.
Though it is true that spring weather advances from south to north, the progression is variable from year to year. Some years, spring progress can stall around New York City such that all points north remain on the cold side and flowering trees bloom late. Unfortunately, a prediction of winter’s end from Punxsutawney Phill is useless.
As some flowering cherry trees bloom early and some bloom later in the season, Kanzan Cherry is king of the late bloomers. (Also known as Kwanzan Cherry.) They are just now beginning to bloom in eastern Massachusetts. Though they appear as quite small red flowers today …. by Monday or Tuesday they will look like bold pink carnations.
The opening photo here is a past year at the Charles River Esplanade in Boston.
And here is what they look like today, about 15 miles north of Boston.
For some folks, the annual blooms of flowering trees are highly treasured. While other trees – magnolias, crabapple, etc – are spectacular, ornamental cherry trees are commonly deemed to be the pinnacle of flowering trees. In Japan, the word Hanami means the viewing enjoyment of flowers (hana), but specifically the blossoms of cherry trees.
In Tokyo Japan, the reported peak blooming occurred around March 22. In Washington D.C., it was March 28 this year. But here in the northeast USA, the blooming is just starting.
Here are a few samples from Boston this past weekend. The first photo is of a Saucer Magnolia in full bloom. The squirrel sits upon a Yoshino Cherry tree that has not yet bloomed at all. The close-ups are both Sargeant Cherry as it was just beginning to bloom.
April 19 – Boston
At the Public Garden, the flowering plum trees are solidly at peak bloom. Although some cherry trees are beginning to drop their flower petals, color will soon be reborn once the crabapples begin to bloom.
The jackpot of cherry trees is located nearby at the Charles River Esplanade. Here, multiple varieties of cherry trees are near peak bloom and should be giving a great display all this week. Of course, the Kwanzan Cherry trees (near the Hatch Memorial Shell) have not yet begun to bloom.
Charles River Esplanade, Boston Massachusetts
April 21 – Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Cherry trees near City Hall have not yet begun to bloom. Just across the street at Langdon Park, the prettiest tree in Portsmouth is just beginning to display the first few flowers. Downtown on State Street, flowing plum trees are displaying good color.
