It’s almost the prettiest time of spring in Toronto, a.k.a. cherry blossom season!
Despite last week’s spring storm and its potential to damage this year’s blooms, it looks like the city’s Sakura trees weathered the frigid temperatures just fine, and are still on track to blossom later this month.
Local expert Steven Joniak of blog High Park Sakura Watch, a website dedicated to tracking the progress of the Sakura cherry blossom trees, posted his latest update over the weekend, which reads “Despite the cold, buds begin to progress to the next stage of development.”
During the colder temperatures over the last week or so, the buds remained closed and protected.
It was lucky for them that the temperatures were not on the extreme end, and the buds already appear fuller and more swollen which is a good sign, according to Joniak.
“Even better was seeing signs of buds opening their tips atop Cherry Hill, which was a clear indicator that Stage 3 had finally begun!”
While it was initially expected that the cherry blossoms would arrive way ahead of schedule, the unpredictable weather has dashed those hopes.
As for when we can expect the Sakura trees to be in full bloom, Joniak predicts the buds will begin to open between April 18 and 24.
The peak bloom should occur a few days after, weather permitting.
“Of course, the warmer the temperatures, the greater the acceleration of the buds’ development, so let’s see how Mother Nature behaves for the rest of April,” the website states.
Only a few more weeks, Toronto!