Each spring, the cherry blossom trees in parks throughout Toronto attract tens of thousands of visitors for the centuries-old tradition of ‘hanami’, which translates to “flower viewing” in Japanese.
Crowds flock to hot spots like High Park and Trinity Bellwoods known for their many blooming Sakura trees, and if you’re wondering when to see them this season, there is already a forecast of their estimated timeline.
Due to our warmer than usual winter this year, the cherry blossoms might bloom earlier than usual for 2024.
According to local blog High Park Sakura Watch, a website dedicated to tracking the progress of the Sakura cherry blossom trees, the buds are already developing ahead of schedule showing a “nuanced copper colour”, which places them between Stages 1 and 2 of their development.
This usually isn’t seen until the second week of March, meaning there is the possibility that this year’s trees could bloom a week or two ahead of their usual late-April / early-May schedule.
Hopefully, Toronto won’t be subject to another deep freeze to finish off the winter, which could put the trees at risk resulting in them forming only a fraction of the blooms they typically do.
While the most popular destination to see cherry blossoms in Toronto is High Park, which boasts an impressive number of 2050 Sakura trees, there are plenty of other less-crowded parks in the city to see the beautiful blooms.
You can also try Centennial Park, Robarts Library, Trinity Bellwoods, Gairloch Gardens, Edwards Gardens, Exhibition Place, and others as found on the City of Toronto website here.