Seattle, Washington

What do you get for a country celebrating its bicentennial? Japan decided the perfect gift in 1976 was to send 1,000 cherry trees to Seattle – and those followed an earlier donation of some 3,500 trees in 1929. Among the best places to experience hanami in Seattle is at the University of Washington: the yoshino trees on the main quad are showstoppers while some 175 cherry trees are planted along the arboretum’s Azalea Way. You’ll find flowering cherry trees, however, throughout the city, from the trees sourced from Mount Fuji in Japanese-inspired Kobe Park to those planted along Cherry Blossom Walk, near the entrance to Seward Park marked by a traditional torii gate.

Blooms typically peak mid-March to early April

Nashville, Tennessee

Unlike some cities, Nashville’s cherry trees are not concentrated in any single park. Instead the city’s Cherry Blossom Festival, first held in 2009, has pursued a goal of planting 100 cherry trees each year throughout the city. In 2018, organisers successfully reached their target of a total of 1,000 trees – and counting. One of the best places to admire them is in the Sylvan Park neighbourhood, where yoshino cherry trees line many streets. (Dogwoods, an iconic tree of the southern US, are also common in Nashville and bloom around the same time, providing a floral double hitter.)

Blooms typically peak in mid-April

San Francisco, California

The most popular place to admire cherry blossoms in San Francisco is, appropriately, the Japanese Tea Garden, a small two-hectare corner of Golden Gate Park which traces its history back to the 1894 World’s Fair. As well as its tea house, pagoda and moon bridge, the garden is famed for its flowering cherries, azaleas, camellias and a variety of dwarf species of trees. (Note that the height of cherry blossoms typically coincides with the floral display at the park’s Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden.) The official cherry blossom celebration, Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival takes place at the Japantown Peace Plaza, a 15-minute drive from the tea garden, and hosts a crowded program of events including musical performances, cooking demonstrations and workshops on bonsai, Japanese calligraphy, martial arts and more.

Blooms typically peak mid-March to mid-April

This story was originally published in February 2019 and was updated in February 2020.