The 91探花 once again is asking people to enjoy the iconic campus cherry blossoms virtually this year to promote physical distancing and safety during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Viewing options
A number of virtual viewing options are available, including 91探花Video鈥檚 live webcam overlooking the Quad, a聽virtual tour with photos from campus that will be updated throughout the blooming season and tweets from .
91探花News will not track full bloom timing this year due to the pandemic. Please avoid coming to campus to see the cherry blossoms and instead enjoy them virtually. Campus buildings along the Quad are closed to the public and restrooms are not available.
Identifying cherry blossoms
91探花arborist Sara Shores recommends looking for cherry blossoms in your local parks and neighborhood streets. There are dozens of different varieties of blossoming cherry and plum trees in the Seattle area, with blooms visible from early February until May, for some species.
Bloom colors range from white to light rose to dark pink, and cherry trees 鈥� unlike plums 鈥� have distinct horizontal-line patterns on their bark called . These help the trees 鈥渆xhale鈥� or release carbon dioxide and water.
Plum trees, which often are mistaken for cherry trees, bloom earlier than most cherries and don鈥檛 have lenticels on their bark.
Many of the earliest-flowering pink trees each spring are plums, Shores said. She recommends checking the bark to verify. Plum flowers also tend to smell sweeter than cherry flowers.
Find cherry blossoms in your neighborhood
The Seattle Department of Transportation maintains this of trees across the city. To see cherry trees in your neighborhood, click on 鈥淓xplore street trees鈥� in the top navigation bar, then click on 鈥渢rees by type鈥� and look for trees with the 鈥淧runus鈥� genus (cherry and plum trees).