BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Cherry Blossoms around the Tidal Basin (2014)

DC -- Cherry Blossoms around the Tidal Basin (2014):

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. CHERRY_140409_052.JPG: The First Ladies: Since 1912, when First Lady Helen Herron Taft helped plant the original cherry trees, the nation's first ladies have been advocates of the springtime blooms and supporters of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. In 1965, Lady Bird Johnson and Mrs. Rjuji Takeuchi, the wife of the Japanese ambassador, began the planting of an additional 3,800 trees -- a second gift from Japan. In 1981, Nancy Reagan gave the Japanese ambassador a tree that US National Arboretum botanist Roland Jefferson propagated from one of the two original trees. Today, the tree grows in the city of Tokyo and is known as the "President of Reagan Cherry Tree." Many first ladies have enjoyed participating in Festival events and activities, including hosting international dignitaries.
2. CHERRY_140409_063.JPG: Keeping the Cherry Trees Healthy: Flowering cherry trees need constant care to keep them growing and blooming well. They are pruned once a year to remove damaged or diseased limbs. A second annual pruning shapes the trees. Soil that has been compacted -- one of the great dangers to the trees' health -- must be aerated so that oxygen and moisture can reach their roots. Dead trees are replaced with young saplings grown from cuttings so the original stock is constantly replenished. Healthy, well-maintained trees live longer and produce more blooms. National Park Service arborists have been so successful in their work that about 100 of the more than 3,000 trees planted in 1912 survive today. A Gift for Japan: The famed cherry trees along the Arakawa River near Tokyo, which provided the parent stock for the original 1912 gift to Washington, DC had fallen into decline after World War II. Japan requested assistance in rejuvenating the grove in the Adachi Ward; in 1952, the National Park Service shipped budwood from descendants of the original trees to Tokyo. Cherry Trees Are Their Business: The trees have been cared for and maintained using the best-known tree care practices since they arrived from the city of Tokyo in 1912. The tree crew is made up of trained professionals and certified arborists. They are dedicated, many working for more than twenty years, and a few have been second-generation tree crew members. Their work is year-round and demanding, requiring attention to the numerous varieties of cherry blossom trees that have become world-renowned. Keeping tools clean and sharp is essential for successful pruning. Clean cuts made by bypass pruners, hand saws, and chain saws minimize the danger that pests or disease will harm the trees. Wearing proper safety clothing and goggles protects the tree crew members.
3. CHERRY_140409_068.JPG: A Symbol of International Friendship On March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft, Viscountess Iwa Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States, and a small group of people assembled at the Tidal Basin. There they planted the first two of more than 3,000 flowering cherry trees that were given to the city of Washington, DC, bu the city of Tokyo. Afterwards, Mrs. Taft presented Viscountess Chinda with a bouquet of American Beauty roses. Four years later when the young trees bloomed, the blossoms began to serve as an annual reminder of the friendship between the United States and Japan. The Two Original Trees: The grove you are looking at is the site of the original planting. Staying on the trails and the walkways helps protect the trees by preventing soil compaction.
4. CHERRY_140409_166.JPG: Cherry blossom time at the Tidal Basin!
5. CHERRY_140409_336.JPG: Predicting the Peak Bloom: Everyone wants to know when the cherry trees will bloom. National Park Service horticulturists have the tricky job of making the prediction. It is not mysterious; rather, it involves knowing what to look for. Starting in early March, they check the size of the buds and measure how quickly they are growing. Horticulturists consult records from years past and forecasts for the weather ahead. They also get help from the "indicator tree," a tree just east of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, that has consistently bloomed about ten days before the others -- a clear sign of the beauty to come.
6. CHERRY_140409_395.JPG: Stewardship: About 100 of the 1912 gift of 3,020 trees have survived past their first century. Over the years, trees have been victims of: * Climbing * Flower picking * Soil Compaction from walking on or near roots 1 piece of gum candy wrapper person picking flowers snack for a squirrel cigarette butt plastic bottle x 1,000,000 [visitors during the cherry blossom season] = ? Do you actions help or harm? "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." -- Dr. Seuss, The Lorax, 1971 In cooperation with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, National Park Service rangers give talks, tours and other interpretive programs for the benefit and enjoyment of our visitors. By engaging and informing visitors, we can work together to preserve our heritage.
7. CHERRY_140409_403.JPG: Preservation Some cherry blossom trees in Japan are over a thousand years old! With proper care, the trees in Washington could live for centuries too. The National Park Service protects our national treasures for the enjoyment of present and future generations, but cannot do so without your help. The nation behaves well if it treats its natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value. -- Theodore Roosevelt, 1910 This land is your land. Let's keep America beautiful. How can you help protect the trees? Picking flowers damages trees, admitting insects and disease. Take only pictures. Leave blossoms on trees for all to enjoy. Bark and limbs are easily damaged. Once broken, a twig will never again produce flowers. Please do not climb or swing from trees. Compressing soil damages roots and trees' ability to get water. Walk and ride on a designated paths to protect roots and soil.
8. CHERRY_140409_406.JPG: The Gift National Geographic board member, travel writer and photographer Eliza Scidmore is the person most responsible for bringing cherry blossom trees to Washington. After traveling to Japan in 1885, Scidmore advocated creating a "Mukojima on the Potomac," for people to gather and celebrate the coming of spring. President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia visited Japan in 1879. They planted trees as gifts from the United States at Ueno Park and Zojoji Temple. The cultural exchange between the two countries continues to this day. First Lady Helen Taft liked Scidmore's proposal to beautify Washington and used her social connections to make it happen. She and Iwa Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambsassador [sic], planted the first trees on March 27, 1912. Hanami is the Japanese custom of flower viewing. Each spring in Japan, coworkers, classmates, friends, and families congregate under the trees to eat, drink, and celebrate the start of the new fiscal and school year.
9. CHERRY_140409_414.JPG: Step into Spring: Nothing says spring in Washington, DC like the blooming of the cherry blossom trees. Each year, the blossoms draw over a million visitors to the nation's capital. The flowers have inspired artists and poets for centuries. "Yo no naka wa mikka minu ma no sakura kana Life is like the three-day bloom of the cherry blossom." -- Oshima Ryota, 1718-1787 Somei Yoshimo is the most common variety of cherry blossom tree both in Japan and Washington. Cherry blossoms belong to the rose family of flowering plants, along with plums, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, strawberries, raspberries, and almonds.
10. CHERRY_140409_420.JPG: Friendship Washington DC's cherry blossom trees symbolize the enduring friendship between the United States and Japan. Like a tree, friendship needs delicate care when young, and maintenance over the years. Once the roots are strong, a friendship can grow, survive storms, and bloom for years. The stone lantern was a gift from the city of Tokyo in 1954, less than a decade after World War II. The lantern originally stood in Ueno Park, and was a gift of tribute to the Shogun from the lord of Hizen (present-day Nagasaki) in 1651. US-Japan relations began in 1853 when Commodore Matthew C. Perry's "black ships" delivered a letter from President Fillmore to Emperor Komei. The two nations signed treaties of peace in 1854 and 1858. The first Japanese ambassadors met President Buchanan at the White House in 1860, ratifying the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce, and officially opening five Japanese ports, including Yokohama, to American vessels.
11. CHERRY_140409_426.JPG: City Beautiful Are cities places of vice or virtue? The City Beautiful Movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s challenge Americans to reimagine urban areas as places of beauty where people could dedicate their lives to improving themselves and the lives of others. In 1902, the Senate Park Commission proposed a plan for Washington's monumental core featuring man-made works of architecture surrounded by artistically designed gardens and parks. Today, the National Park Service preserves that area as part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks. Lady Bird Johnson was a prominent advocate for national beautification. In 1965, she accepted 3,800 additional cherry blossom trees from Tokyo to augment the original gift of 3,020 trees. Though the word beautification makes the concept sound merely cosmetic, it involves much more: clean water, clean air, clean roadsides, safe waste disposal and preservation of valued old landmarks as well as great parks and wilderness areas. To me... beautification means our total concern for the physical and human quality we pass to our children and the future. -- Lady Bird Johnson, 1967
12. CHERRY_140409_439.JPG: Welcome to the National Cherry Blossom Festival: Each spring, over one million people come to Washington, DC to see the cherry trees in bloom and enjoy the Festival that celebrates them. The Festival commemorates the anniversary of the gift of trees from the city of Tokyo to the city of Washington DC a century ago, and is 'the nation's greatest springtime celebration.' The National Cherry Blossom Festival and the National Park Service welcomes you to these events. Volunteers and park rangers are available to answer questions and provide directions to Festival programs and activities.
13. CHERRY_140410_308.JPG: Cherry blossoms @ the Tidal Basin
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