If you live in the mid-Atlantic region or even a little farther north, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. But these cherry trees popped a few days ago in Washington DC, and the Park Service has now moved up peak cherry blossom time to March 18-23. That's about two weeks earlier than normal, and two days earlier than the previous record in 2012. No question that it's attributable to the warm winter we've had this year. Although the Cherry Blossom Festival opens March 26th, most of the blooms will be fading by that time and completely gone by the time of other signature festival events.
Also, yesterday I saw two Magnolia soulangiana half-way out, so everything, I guess, will bloom at once this year. Just hope next weekend's night-time temps, projected in the high 30s at the moment, don't turn everything to mush, as they've done on innumerable occasions.
So don't stay tuned for Spring,… it's already here in mid-March.
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