5 Fast Facts About Cherry Blossoms

There is nothing quite like the show of small petals covering flowering cherry trees on a clear spring day; their flowers are beautiful at all stages – from first bud break through emergence into full flower… and even as the petals shower onto the ground.  The ephemeral nature of ornamental cherries is what makes them all the more special.

Here are a few facts about cherry blossoms:

1. Flowering cherry trees are small to medium-sized plants and they are one of the most diverse groups of ornamental trees in our area.
2. Cherry trees are members of the rose family, and like all its members, they require full sun and good drainage.  
3. Their small delicate petals come in colors ranging from white to light pink, and even some darker pink-reds.   
4. As part of the Sesquicentennial celebration of 1926, the Japanese government gifted flowering cherry trees to the city of Philadelphia and some of these original trees can still be seen in Fairmount Park.  
5. Since 1998 the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia has planted more than 1000 cherry trees throughout the city.  

See Morris Arboretum's cherry blossom collection in bloom this April. Learn more.