It’s almost cherry blossom season! Here’s where to see them in the Tacoma area
The United States hasn’t always had what are known as ornamental cherry blossom trees — the ones that look like cotton candy-colored puffs popping out of short, green, deciduous leaves. Those have only been around the United States for a little more than 100 years.
Ornamental, meaning they are bred for aesthetics (flowers, foliage or shape as opposed to fruit) were originally brought to the East Coast from Japan. In the early 1900s, an agriculturist named David Fairchild, who traveled the world collecting exotic plants and fruits, brought cherry blossom trees back to Chevy Chase, Maryland. The first time a cherry blossom tree bloomed in the United States was on his land in 1907. And they were a hit.
Six years later, first lady Helen Taft spearheaded a campaign to plant cherry blossom trees near the Potomac River in Washington D.C., in an effort to help offset the mess of river mud. Two of them still stand today. Now cherry blossom trees are nearly synonymous with spring in Washington D.C., and many other capital buildings and institutions around the country.
Today, Olympia has them on the Capitol campus grounds, as does, famously, the University of Washington and many streets and buildings around Tacoma.
Where in Tacoma can you find cherry blossom trees?
Here’s where it gets a little tricky.
Plum-blossom trees bloom a couple of weeks earlier than cherry blossom trees, and they look a heck of a lot like them. So much so, in fact, that it fooled this writer.
As a Seattleite who is a bit new to Tacoma, I took it upon myself to drive around and see exactly where a lot of Tacoma’s cherry blossom trees are.
I kept seeing bright, fluffy, flowered trees indicative of the cherry blossom tree, blooming all over Tacoma’s streets. I drove around and snapped photos of the trees, and wrote down general locations to help guide readers to my favorites.
Then I talked to Mike Carey, the city of Tacoma’s urban forester, and he directed me to TreePlotter. TreePlotter isn’t complete, but it’s a public database that has a remarkable inventory of the city of Tacoma’s trees.
Thanks to TreePlotter, I realized that the trees I’d assumed were cherry blossom trees were actually plum trees.
What’s the difference between cherry blossom trees and plum trees?
Apparently, this happens a lot. So much so that The News Tribune wrote about it two years ago. Essentially the main difference is that the plum tree, or cherry plum tree (called that because it bears tiny plums about the size of a cherry) is a completely different species.
According to Mark McDonaugh, urban forester for Parks Tacoma, plum trees bloom about two weeks earlier and are often mistaken for cherry blossom trees.
“When you’re driving around, and you see all of those pink blossoms on street trees right now,” McDonaugh told me. “Those are plum trees. There are no cherry blossoms blooming in Tacoma right now that I know of.”
Aside from when they bloom, McDonaugh said, plum trees live for 50-80 years. The oldest known cherry-blossom tree is in Hokuto City, Japan and estimated to be between 1,800 and 2,000 years old. The University of Washington’s Yoshino cherry blossom trees are roughly 90 years old.
“Plum trees are typically ornamental street trees,” McDonaugh continued. “You typically see them planted along roads. Since we have so much room in parks, we typically try and plant trees that will be able to grow to a large size. Plums are beautiful street trees, but they probably only get to 30 feet tall.”
Cherry blossom trees can grow up to 50 feet tall.
So where are Tacoma’s cherry blossom trees?
After driving around Tacoma for a while, I can certainly tell you where some beautiful plum trees are blooming.
But cherry blossoms aren’t set to bloom for another week or two (at the time of writing this article). In Washington state, cherry blossoms usually bloom the last week of March and the first week of April, with peak bloom traditionally beginning on March 29.
McDonaugh and Carey helped set me on the path to finding actual cherry-blossom trees, even though they would not be blooming (but please do enjoy a few pre-blossom photos anyway).
Top 5 Tacoma parks to view cherry blossom trees
Point Defiance Park - 5400 N. Pearl Street, Tacoma
There’s one particular favorite near the lower bowl that looks like an octopus. McDonaugh says it has arms that reach out, and kids love to climb on it. It’s one of Tacoma’s oldest, having been planted in 1934.
Also, head up to the Japanese garden by the visitor’s center. You can’t miss it with the bright red pagoda and cherry blossom trees surrounding a footbridge and waterfall.
Wapato Hills Park Basketball Courts - 6231 S. Wapato St., Tacoma
The Wapato Hills basketball courts are popular. When I got there, a group of kids was playing “HORSE” in the middle of a weekday afternoon, completely unaware that they were surrounded by large, mature, cherry-blossom trees. They didn’t know because they hadn’t blossomed yet ... they just looked like big regular trees.
One basketball player named Leroy Willyander from University Place made a layup with no idea the trees surrounding him would soon turn into a giant pink blanket of Seussian proportions.
Wright Park - 501 S. I St., Tacoma
Wright Park has a row of cherry blossom trees behind the conservancy that were planted in 1990. Look for more in its more than 600 trees scattered about the 27-acre arboretum.
Chinese Reconciliation Park - 1741 N. Schuster Parkway, Tacoma
You’ll find Yoshino cherry blossom trees here, lining the water, along its pathways and surrounding the gardens. There’s a special one in particular hanging over the water’s edge facing Dash Point.
Chambers Creek Regional Park - 6320 Grandview Dr. W., University Place
Park on the park’s western edge near the soccer fields and walk across to the grass to find the entrance to the labyrinth. Mature cherry blossom trees line the path.
If you’re hoping to find cherry blossom trees out in the city, head over to Proctor. Drive north between 6th and 21st, then make your way over to North 22nd and North Puget Sound. North of the University of Puget Sound campus, there are many more cherry blossom trees all scattered about Tacoma’s growing urban tree canopy.
And don’t forget to use TreePlotter if you want to save gas.
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