Yoshino Cherry

Yoshino cherry is the flowering cherry of the Washington, D.C. Tidal Basin and the Japanese hanami tradition, a graceful, spreading tree that covers itself in pale pink to white single flowers in early to mid-April, creating a soft, cloud-like effect that has made it the most iconic flowering cherry in the world. The flowers are lightly fragrant, which sets it apart from most other ornamental cherries. It grows twenty to thirty-five feet with a rounded, spreading crown and smooth, gray-brown bark. A hybrid of Japanese origin.

In Western Washington, Yoshino cherry is one of the most widely planted flowering cherries, and it blooms with the same breathtaking effect here as it does in D.C., the mild, moist spring weather actually extends the bloom period compared to hotter climates. 'Akebono' is a popular selection with slightly pinker flowers and a denser crown. Several diseases and pests are tracked, including bacterial canker and borer attacks on stressed trees. Yoshino is not long-lived, twenty-five to forty years in urban conditions, but the spring display during its lifetime is worth the planting. For the classic, romantic flowering cherry experience with fragrance, Yoshino is the standard.