Kwanzan Cherries

 

4/20/21 Kwanzan cherry trees, Maple Leaf neighborhood

Kwanzan blossom cluster

I think it was only as recently as a year ago that I learned to identify the Kwanzan cherry tree. Before that, I knew that a bright pink tree blossomed later than the more common (around here) ornamental cherry that I think of as the quintessential sakura, but I didn’t know if it was a different cherry variety or something else entirely. Then I saw photos of trees on Instagram identified as Kwanzan cherries, and I recognized them immediately: A much brighter pink than the nearly white sakura, the blossoms grow in large, distinctively round clusters.

Now that the ornamental cherries are all done, the Kwanzans are in their full glory. I know of a couple more in the ‘hood that I hope to catch before the season of pink is over for the year.

Below is another tree that is just starting to blossom. A Facebook friend identified it as flowering crabapple. I don’t expect to be able to ID every flowering tree in my neighborhood, but I do like to learn the names of any tree I sketch. I want to catch this one with my sketchbook, too, but I may be out of time: Our streak of unseasonably gorgeous weather is over (we broke a record by having seven consecutive days of temperatures at or above 70 degrees in April), and the normal rain is back.

Flowering crabapple