Springtime in Toronto means warmer weather, outside hangs and the joy of watching snow melt off the sidewalks. But perhaps the biggest milestone of the season for most Torontonians is finally seeing the cherry blossom trees all over the city. And you have to get the timing just right to see the sakura trees in peak bloom!
Cherry Blossom expert Steve Joniak, otherwise known as Sakura Steve, made an update on everyone’s favourite pink and white spectacle shortly after the first day of spring.
On his blog, Sakura in High Park, he details that the trees are still in “early stages” of blooming, so it might be hard to tell exactly when they come out.
As usual though, it’s likely they’ll begin to really show their colours starting closer to mid-spring, he said.
However, it’s important to note that if the weather starts to get warmer than usual, we can expect to see them closer to April. If temperatures stay cooler, Torontonians can expect to view the cherry blossoms sometime in May.
“The weather forecast, along with historical data from past years with similar weather and growth patterns, helps determine dates, but at this early stage, I always look to the typical blooming time, which is later April to early May,” said the cherry blossom expert.
From his visits to High Park so far, though, Joniak said he’s happy to report that the trees are generally growing well.
“I was happy to see and report that the cherry blossom buds continue to look great in the current first stage of development,” he said. “They have maintained their brilliant bronze colour, with light colour tips, and may have even swelled ever so slightly more than last week.”
According to the High Park Nature Centre website, the buds are still firmly closed but the report agrees that the bloom is dependent on the weather.
Toronto’s cherry blossom history is rich. In fact, some of the first trees were gifted by the Japanese Ambassador to Canada Tori-Hagiwara when he presented 2000 of them to the city on behalf of citizens of Tokyo.
While cherry blossoms are a sight to behold at any point on the flowering cycle, peak bloom is when they’re at their most open and beautiful. That happens when 70 per cent of the blossoms are open; at that point, the peak bloom will last anywhere from a few days to 10 days.
Toronto has an abundance of cherry blossoms scattered through the city. Some of the best areas to see them are around the High Park Trail near the Grenadier Pond, as well as various spots in Trinity Bellwoods Park.
