The National Mall’s cherry blossoms are getting ready to bloom — the trees reached the fourth stage of the blossoming process, known as “peduncle elongation,” on March 12, the National Park Service announced. This means that peak bloom is not far off.
Peak bloom, the point when 70 percent of the Yoshino cherry trees have blossomed, is expected to arrive between March 23 and March 26, according to a February 29 announcement from the National Park Service.
“We have raced through the first four stages of the bloom cycle,” NPS spokesman Mike Litterst told NBC4 Washington.
Peduncle elongation is the fourth of six stages: green bud, florets visible, extension of florets, peduncle elongation, puffy white blossoms, and finally peak bloom. It has been only 10 days since the blossoms entered the first stage.
Litterst said that the NPS expects to see peak bloom arrive on the earlier side of the original prediction of March 23 to 26, “if not a little earlier than that.”
Weather plays a big part in when the blossoms appear, and this year was a particularly warm winter, contributing to an early bloom.
Peak bloom will coincide with the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, which will run March 20 to April 14 with an array of fun events like concerts, street festivals, a parade, and more fun.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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