Cherry blossom enthusiasts, it’s coming — a time in Toronto that brings people together from near and far. A handful of parks all over the city burst with pink and white blooms, but the window to check it out is short, so you’ll need to plan ahead.
Steven Joniak, also known as Sakura Steve, monitors the progress of the cherry blossoms in High Park, using his blog as a local guide in Toronto.
Let’s start with a little history lesson on how we even got here (and by here, I mean among gorgeous cherry blossoms in Toronto). “On April 1, 1959, the Japanese ambassador to Canada, Toru-Hagiwara, presented 2000 Japanese Somei-Yoshino Sakura on behalf of the citizens of Tokyo.”
Quite the gift! The 2000 Japanese Somei-Yoshino Sakura were given as a thank you to Toronto for supporting Japanese-Canadian refugees after the Second World War.
According to Joniak’s first post of 2026, it may be too early to tell exact time ranges, but the cherry blossom buds are starting to show up in large numbers.
“I can say that the buds are in their early stages and are plentiful across the park’s trees. This bodes well for a good showing later this spring. The usual timeframe for High Park cherry blossom blooms is around the last week of April into the first week of May,” Joniak writes.
“Current weather predictions point to that timeframe, BUT the big caveat is that we could get unexpected weather, like extreme cold snaps or early heatwaves,” he continues.
The cherry blossoms go through six stages from buds to blooms, with the blooms’ “peak” lasting only about 10 to 15 days. The first stage can begin anytime between late February and early March, with peak bloom typically coming in late April or early May.
If you want to stay up to date on all the stages, be sure to check out Curiocity’s updates, as well as Sakura Steve’s.
Happy (almost) spring, Toronto.
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