University of Washington cherry trees in half bloom
Mar 17, 2014, 2:00 PM | Updated: 5:33 pm
On Friday, the Yoshino cherry trees in the Quad were at 50 percent of their bloom, according to the University of Washington. (MyNorthwest file photo)
(MyNorthwest file photo)
If you’ve been waiting to check out the University of Washington cherry blossoms, your time is now.
On Friday, the Yoshino cherry trees in the Quad were at 50 percent of their bloom, according to Sara Shores, the UW arborist. She expects the trees to be in full bloom sometime this week, especially if the weather warms up.
There are 31 of the trees lining the quad on the university’s Seattle campus. UW says once the trees do bloom, you have about three weeks before they begin to drop from the trees.
The university has said the trees are toward the end of their natural life cycle and it has replacements growing in a nursery.
According to Columns, the UW Alumni Magazine, the trees are transplants from the Washington Park Arboretum. When the school’s architect and president learned that the new 520 Bridge was going to threaten those trees, the pair hatched a plan to move them to campus.
No one was sure the trees would survive the move, but they were loaded onto flatbed trucks and placed in the bare Quad.
The following spring, the sticks produced buds that swelled into blooms. And the rest is Husky history.
You can follow the cherry blossoms on Twitter @uwcherryblossom.
