The beloved cherry blossoms at the University of Washington in Seattle haven’t popped into full splendor yet, but a new website aimed at promoting the attraction is up and running.
The site includes a number of features to showcase the trees and inform the public about how best to view them. There are links for transportation options, maps for where to find the trees, details on tree safety, activities, amenities, nearby food and cherry blossom merchandise.
Most important are the updates on when the trees will reach peak bloom. Visitors excited about that annual burst of pinkish color will have to wait a bit longer — the UW says a colder-than-usual spring is pushing the date back to early April.
The website points to a live campus webcam with a view of the Quad and the state of the trees. A look on Thursday showed mostly bare branches and not the swarms of people who typically turn out to view the spectacle. The UW said that as of this week, there are mostly green buds and a few florets, where the folded-up petals are emerging on the trees.
The website says the species of trees on the Quad is called Yoshino, and the 29 trees are nearly 90 years old. They were transplanted from the Washington Park Arboretum in 1964.
Figuring out when the blossoms will pop is legitimate business on campus. A UW research group has been monitoring campus cherry trees from January to April since 2018. The goal is to create a model that will use weather data to predict the timing of peak bloom.
Autumn Maust, a UW doctoral student in environmental and forest sciences, currently leads the 14 undergraduates on the monitoring team, and told UW News that strolling through the Quad during peak bloom in the evening offers less foot traffic and “is very peaceful.”
If you can’t make it to campus, the cherry blossoms are also active on social media, including Twitter and Instagram. Or you could take a virtual tour.
