The cherry blossom trees along the Tidal Basin in D.C. have reached the second of six stages of bloom with the florets now visible. The National Park Service predicts the flowers will peak in three weeks — depending on the weather. The National Park Service announced the flowers’ progress on Tuesday morning. You can watch their development on the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s bloom cam.
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Right on time, the trees reached the green bud stage on Saturday; the first stage typically arrives in late February or early March. Stage two — where the trees are now — is when the florets are visible. This year, it arrived a bit earlier than normal. Typically, this phase starts during the second or third week of March.
The cherry blossoms have progressed to florets visible, the 2nd of 6 stages. Depending on the weather, peak bloom should be around 3 weeks away! 🌸🌸/🌸🌸🌸🌸 Follow the #BloomWatch online: https://t.co/h04Gu0ksc1#Cherryblossom #WashingtonDC pic.twitter.com/AGXela7nQv
— National Mall NPS (@NationalMallNPS) March 5, 2024
In the next stage, the florets will extend. Then in stage 4, the flowers start to become more visible. During stage 5, those “puffy white” buds begin to open. Finally, in stage 6 the flowers are at peak bloom — meaning 70% of the cherry blossoms surrounding the Tidal Basin are open. WTOP’s Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.
