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Picture this: a clear blue sky, a crystal lake and awe-inspiring monuments lined with pink and white bundles of blooms. Washington’s cherry blossoms are here, and they’re welcoming spring.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is held every year in Washington, D.C., to showcase the blooming of 3,000 cherry blossom trees that were presented to our nation’s capital by Tokyo, Japan. It also salutes the arrival of spring.
This year, the festival is extra special: It’s the five-week centennial celebration of the trees – and it’s here a few weeks early. The blossoms, which are typically at their peak bloom around the first week of April, have already begun to flourish due to unusually warm temperatures this winter season. But no one is complaining.
iReporter Ian Dixon, of Arlington, Virginia, headed to the Tidal Basin early Sunday morning to see the first bloom in what he thought was perfect photography weather. “I was really pleased with how this particular shot turned out,” he said.
Capturing the cherry blossoms in front of an iconic backdrop of the city is not uncommon this time of year. Chris Rafford, of Frederick, Maryland, says he wanted to show two symbols of D.C. in one picture. He shot this picture outside the Washington Monument on Sunday evening with his wife and daughters.
Inga Lukaviciute, a Washington, D.C. resident, was also mesmerized by the early blooms. “I didn’t want to miss them, so I wanted to take these photos before they disappear,” she said.
If you’re at the Cherry Blossom Festival this year or are simply appreciating the signs of spring, share your best photos and videos with us!
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I'll be the first one to comment here.... I'll be seeing you Cherry Blossoms, I just don't know when, but I know I'll be seeing you.
Im already seeing them spring is near.
Very nice pics... Thank you for sharing!
the tree has symbolic for life !
How beautiful! Cherry blossoms is a symbol of Washington D.C. The cherry trees and D.C. are a good match :) I have last spring's cherry blossoms photos of near Tokyo, so I share soon. Now in Japan, the cherry trees are not in full bloom yet. I'll share this spring's one next month, again. Thank you for your share!
If Obama had a son, he might look just like these flowers.
@clemjones- Are you really unable to appreciate the beauty of these trees without the need for a nonsensical personal jab at the president?
The link to share our pictures isn't working. What to do?
Please wait a week or ... 10 days more. I'll post cherry blossom updates from Japan!
I believe that the Sakura blossoming won't reach full bloom in Japan for at least 1-2 weeks in most of Japan. It'll be at maximum blossom during the first two weeks in April. By the way, these trees do NOT product edible cherry fruit--trees that produce edible cherries have white-colored blossoms.