Sakura Watch April 6, 2024 - Despite the cold, buds begin to progress to the next stage of development. My latest visit to High Park was on a less-than-ideal wintery day in April. The weather this week has not been great, and on this latest visit, I hope it will be the last taste of winter. Since we did have a week of snow and cold, I wasn’t expecting to see too much of a change this week, but I was in for a bit of a surprise. Read on to find out more…

Watch the Youtube video update below.

Buds Continue to progress

Even though the cooler temperatures persisted, with lots of rain and even times snow, the buds remained closed and protected from this short stint of winter. It also helped that temperatures were not on the extreme end so little damage was done. The worst would have been from the strong winds, but luckily all the trees appear to have survived unscathed. A happy site was the Robins, which are plenty throughout the park this time of year and seemed to be hardly phased by the rain and snow and taking in some views from the sakura branches (photos below).

Upon first arriving, I could see the buds had grown a little larger and appeared fuller and more swollen – already a good sign. Even better was seeing signs of buds opening their tips atop Cherry Hill, which was a clear indicator that Stage 3 had finally begun!

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

Warm Returns, prediction updated

Based on my observations, any hopes of an early bloom are now dashed. With the return of more seasonal temperatures in the outlook so far, it does appear the buds will be well into Stages 3 and 4 over the next couple of weeks. Of course, the warmer the temperatures, the greater the acceleration of the buds' development, so let’s see how Mother Nature behaves for the rest of April.

I can gather the best bloom date accuracy once I see clear signs of the peduncles extending out of the buds, but for now, my predictive intuition is pointing at dates later into the third and fourth weeks of the month. I think we should see the buds begin to open between April 18 and 24, with a full bloom a few days after (weather permitting, of course). It's a toss of the dice the last few years as the topsy-turvy temperatures continue on the roller coaster of ups and downs, so my hopes are they will stabilize throughout April and help us all to enjoy the bloom sooner.

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.