Getting the timing right for catching Toronto’s favourite pink and white flowers in bloom can be tricky. But after weeks of speculating, it’s official: the cherry blossoms in High Park have hit peak bloom despite some cooler-than-usual temperatures.
Peak bloom will typically last between four and 10 days, though blossom expert Steve Joniak is predicting that this year’s bloom will last until roughly May 5, based on weather conditions. If you don’t mind the crowds, High Park is the place to be for this annual spring tradition.
In April 1959, the Japanese ambassador to Canada presented 2000 Japanese Somei-Yoshino Sakura trees as a gift to Toronto for their support of Japanese-Canadian refugees after WWII. Many of the trees were planted along High Park Trail around Grenadier Pond, which today has the most impressive grove of sakura (cherry blossom trees) in the city!
In 1984, several Japanese cherry trees were planted along a pathway west of the Children’s Adventure Playground in High Park. In the early 200s, 34 Yoshino Sakura trees were donated and planted on the east shore of Grenadier Pond near the Maple Leaf Garden, followed by an additional 16 Sakura trees planted near the original 1959 planting site.
In 2019, new trees were planted in a special ceremony to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the sakura trees donated to High Park in 1959, making the park a sakura paradise!
Tens of thousands of people flock to High Park each year to savour the luscious trees covered in pink petals.
To help manage visitor volume, there’ll be no vehicle access or parking inside the park beginning Friday, May 1, for the duration of peak bloom (and car access and parking inside High Park are already prohibited during the weekends).
As always, visitors are welcome to enjoy the blossoms but respect the trees, so avoid climbing the cherry blossoms or removing the branches.
If crowds aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other areas across the where you can enjoy the cherry blossoms! And if you’re planning a day trip over the next week or so, make it to one of these cherry blossom hot spots in Ontario.
