NEWSLETTER
BBG’s cherry blossom display is tracked daily on CherryWatch at bbg.org/cherries.
Brooklyn, NY—The first cherry blossoms of spring have been spotted on Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Prunus × incam ‘Okame’ trees, marking the start of hanami, or cherry blossom viewing season. Throughout the season, Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s cherry blossom display is tracked on its CherryWatch webpage. Updated daily, this map provides up-to-the-petal blooming status for each tree in the main collection, as well as detailed information about each cultivar.
Over the next several weeks, the blossoms on BBG’s more than 200 flowering cherry trees will progress from buds to full flowers to falling petals across Cherry Esplanade, Cherry Walk, and the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. Consisting of more than 20 cultivars, BBG’s cherry blossom collection is one of the most diverse of its kind in a U.S. botanic garden.
Prunus × incam ‘Okame’ is usually the first to flower in spring, followed a week or so later by the weeping cherries in the Japanese Garden, after a string of warm, sunny days. ‘Okame’ can be found in the Cherry Cultivars Area of the Garden, near Cherry Esplanade. The bloom is a hybrid of the Formosan and Fuji cherries, and its deep carmine-rose buds open to lighter-tinted flowers before leaves appear. Learn more about each cultivar’s blossom characteristics and where to find specimens on CherryWatch.
BBG encourages visitors to share their own cherry blossom images on social media using the hashtags #bbgcherries and #BrooklynBotanicGarden.
Cherry blossoms are not the only stars of the show in early spring: Visitors can also see spectacular displays of pink, white, and yellow magnolias on Magnolia Plaza, a bright display of daffodils on Daffodil Hill and in the Annual Border, and more throughout the Garden.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden offers special programs to highlight the spring season, including:
Extended Spring Hours
April 1–May 15, 2023
Open early and closing late: Tuesday–Thursday, 8 a.m.–8:30 p.m.*
Open early: Friday–Sunday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Through the peak spring season, BBG offers extended morning and evening hours and special programs to make the most of the season. General admission pricing. Advance tickets required. Learn more at bbg.org/visit. *Except: Early close on April 25 & 26 (rain dates May 2 & 3).
Weekends in Bloom
April 22–23 & 29–30; May 6–7 & 13–14, 2023
Celebrate Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s glorious spring blooms with four weekends of pop-up music and dance performances, cultural programs, workshops for kids and families in the Discovery Garden, Garden tours, and more. Check out BBG’s spring-flowering trees—cherries, bonsai, magnolias, and more—highlighted as part of the Garden’s yearlong focus on trees. Weekends in Bloom is part of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Art in the Garden series. Free with Garden admission.
Hanami Nights
Tuesday, April 25 & Wednesday, April 26, 2023 | 5–9 p.m.
Cherry Esplanade, Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, Atrium
Spend an evening under BBG’s exquisite flowering cherry tree collection. For two nights only, visitors can celebrate hanami—the Japanese tradition of experiencing the ephemeral beauty of cherry blossom season—in the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden and beneath uplit trees on Cherry Esplanade, with live music and dance and specialty food and drinks. Ticketed event.
Support for Weekends in Bloom
Art in the Garden is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
About Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Founded in 1910, Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is an urban botanic garden that connects people to the world of plants, fostering delight and curiosity while inspiring an appreciation and sense of stewardship of the environment. Situated on 52 acres in the heart of Brooklyn and open year-round, the Garden is home to over 12,000 kinds of plants and more than 30 specialty gardens. Learn more at bbg.org. Follow @brooklynbotanic on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and join the conversation using #BrooklynBotanicGarden
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