72 Microseasons of the Pacific Northwest

The ornamental cherry blossom peak is the Pacific Northwest's most photographed natural event, drawing crowds to parks and university campuses across the region in late March. These trees — most of them Japanese flowering cherries (*Prunus serrulata* cultivars such as Yoshino, Kwanzan, and Akebono) — were introduced to North American cities in the early 20th century and have become as culturally embedded in the PNW spring as rain itself. The University of Washington Quad in Seattle is the most iconic site: 30 Yoshino cherry trees planted in the 1960s transform the brick courtyard into a tunnel of pale pink. The blooms are so culturally significant that the UW Arboretum issues annual bloom forecasts. Peak typically falls in the last week of March, when crowds arrive at dawn to photograph blossoms before the paths fill. Portland's Tom McCall Waterfront Park hosts one of Oregon's largest concentrations of ornamental cherries, also peaking in late March to early April. In Victoria, BC, the city's 40,000+ ornamental cherry trees — among the densest concentrations on the continent — make the city a destination for blossom chasers from across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The Dallas Road waterfront and Beacon Hill Park offer blossoms framed against the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Park and the streets of the West End bloom contemporaneously, with the city maintaining an online cherry blossom map. Beyond cities, look for native bitter cherry (*Prunus emarginata*) blooming along forest edges and disturbed slopes — smaller flowered and less showy than the ornamentals, but beloved by native bees and a reliable early pollen source in riparian corridors throughout the Cascades foothills.