Sakura Watch April 12, 2024 - Peak bloom is close! Still, trees need better weather before putting on the High Park big show, as evidenced by the trees only showing less than 5% of open flowers today. A few days of sun and higher temperatures will encourage the Sakura cherry trees to open their beautiful blossoms. With more rain and cooler weather on the way, the peak bloom will be slowed down by a couple days until warmer temperatures return. Read on to find out how this will effect my prediction…

Watch the Youtube video update below.

Late Stage 5 Throughout High Park

I had thought the sunny days would help push the cherry blossoms to bloom, but mixed with slightly cooler temperatures and rainy days, progress had slowed a bit. Starting with the trees by the sports fields, we can see that they are still in later Stage 5, with a few blossoms open on the trees here and there. Overall, under 5% –just a few percent– of blossom open, and the peduncles are just about fully extended, so we need a few more good days of warm, sunny weather to help open up. 

All the trees by Cherry Hill are still in late Stage 5 – they’re almost there but still need a few more days of good, warm sunlight to help them open up. There are a few blossoms open up, however, throughout, and as you can see in some of these video clips and pictures, but overall, less than 5% are open currently as of this visit. The trees are spotted with dots of pink at the moment, as each peduncle has extended and is waiting to burst open a beautiful flower any day.

By Grenadier Pond, we can see these trees are also all in later Stages 5 and are just a few days away from opening up. One thing to note is that the blossoms in this area tend to be a little bit more pink initially and then eventually turn white. Once again, only a handful of blossoms were open along the pond, but these were the least amount compared to the other areas.

Here are some more detailed photos showing the amazing progress during my latest visit:

Full (PEAK) Bloom is almost here!

Even though we can now see trees are much farther ahead by Robarts Library downtown and Trinity Bellwoods Park, overall, the trees in High Park are still in the late Stage 5. At most, 5% of cherry blossoms were open today, but we should expect more later towards the end of the week, especially on the weekend. So Peak Bloom is just around the corner now, and it’s just a matter of time before the weather hopefully will be on our side. But even though the weather looks cool and rainy for the next few days, by the weekend, we should be back to good optimal weather, and at that point, we should see the blossoms begin to open up. 

These new observations now cause a bump in my original prediction. After the cooler, rainy days pass, I believe we should start to see the full bloom, where at least 75% of the sakura blossoms have opened, starting on April 20 and continuing through the weekend to the 26th. Each day, more blossoms will open depending on the weather–the warmer and sunnier the weather, the faster they will open and bloom.

Once again, how long they last will depend on the weather and people. Rain and wind tend to knock down blossoms early, but warm and calmer weather will help them last longer. The other threat is from people pulling branches or shaking trees—see my tips below to help prevent damaging the trees or spoiling the event for everyone else.

Thanks for visiting, and watch for more updates soon.

Do Your Part to Help the Trees from Damage

As much fun as it is to get up close to enjoy the cherry blossoms truly, there are some who take it a bit too far and cause damage to the tree that can lead to irreparable harm so the trees can not protect themselves from insects and disease and eventually die. This leaves us with less mature trees to enjoy, so please, if you really want to enjoy the blossoms for many years to come, you need to do your part to help protect the trees and prevent any harm to them:

• Don’t pick or break off any blossoms

• Don’t pull down, shake or break off the branches

• Don’t climb, sit or stand on the trunks or branches - the mature trees are very old and not strong enough to support the weight and stress of people, even small children!

• Don’t leave any litter IN or around the trees - it’s so sad to see people putting their garbage in the hollow trunks of the older trees, which invites animals and other insects to nest inside and cause internal damage.

• DO take photos without harming the trees

• DO enjoy the blossoms and respect their immediate surroundings

• DO remember that respecting the trees from root to branch will help everyone to enjoy the blooming trees for many years to come

Donate to Support The Cherry Blossoms

The City of Toronto now accepts donations to help maintain existing trees and plant future ones. See this link for details.
Read more details and information on the City of Toronto - Cherry Blossom Website

Thank you all for visiting the site. Be careful, be safe, and watch for more updates soon.