Cherry Blossoms at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

One of the best ways to celebrate the arrival of spring in New York is by viewing cherry blossoms. The Japanese believe that the cherry blossom symbolizes the beauty and frailty of life. New York City annually celebrates Japanese culture in spring when the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom.

Cherry trees usually begin to flower in April. An individual tree may only bloom for a week or two, depending on the weather. Of course, if they were in bloom all the time, they wouldn’t be so special. 

New York City’s rite of spring, the cherry blossom trees bloom in Brooklyn Botanic Garden typically from April to mid-May. Celebrate the Japanese tradition of cherishing the cherry blossom season. Stroll under a fragrant canopy of cherry trees in Brooklyn Botanic Garden and enjoy a truly sensory experience! As for the rows and rows of blooms that appear on the Cherry Esplanade and Cherry Walk. Watch the below video of Cherry Esplanade, and other spring plants at peak bloom in Brooklyn Botanic Garden:

Walk in the main garden entrance and you’ll be greeted by Cherry trees on full display. There are 26 types of flowering cherry trees at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden alone, but according to the New York City Parks Department, across New York City, the three most common types are the Okame, Yoshino and Kwanzan.

The pink-flowered Okame usually begins blooming in late March or early April, but the Yoshino (which has white flowers) and the Kwanzan (which is pink and can produce up to 28 petals on each blossom) may still have flowers in late April or early May. They bloom at different times meaning that the cherry blossom season can last up to a month. Yoshino Cherry Trees tend to bloom first followed by the Kwanzan Cherry Trees.

To see the city garden with pink blossoms from these gorgeous trees is just an exciting start for all the other blooms to come from the season. 

After the icy New York winter, the annual Cherry Blossom Festival at the BBG (Brooklyn Botanic Garden ) lights up the trees and hearts of New Yorkers. 

New Yorkers Take a peaceful stroll along the path and admire them once they bloom! They look absolutely magical in the springtime! Full of lively blooms and bright colors, one of the most spectacular sights to see!

The main area to celebrate the arrival of spring is at the Cherry Esplanade and around the Japanese Hill and Pond garden. In these areas, you’ll find some of the oldest plantings, with some dating back as far as 1921, along the gorgeous Cherry Walk.

The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden is one of the oldest and most visited Japanese-inspired gardens outside Japan.  Opened in 1915, Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden is the first to be built in a public botanic garden in the United States. More than a century later, it remains a testament to Americans’ enduring appreciation of Japanese gardens.

It is a blend of the hill-and-pond style and the more recent stroll-garden style, in which various landscape features are gradually revealed along winding paths. The garden features artificial hills contoured around a pond, a waterfall, and an island, along with carefully placed rocks. Architectural elements include wooden bridges, stone lanterns, a viewing pavilion, a Shinto shrine, and a dramatic vermilion-colored wooden torii, a traditional Japanese Gate. It emerges from the pond against a background of gently rounded hills and a wooded path. 

Other vistas are gradually revealed as you walk along the garden’s winding paths, including a five-tiered waterfall that you hear before you see as you round a bend. 

Blooming alongside young, emerging leaves, the red buds of showy crabapple mature to white flowers in spring. In late summer, its fruit provides a favorite food among birds, squirrels, and other wildlife.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden has a plethora of information available to learn more about the cherry trees, and has several different viewing experiences within the park and hosts the most well-known cherry blossom festival in NYC. Visit Brooklyn Botanic Garden during cherry blossom season and witness an exuberant display that changes day by day!

Seasonal Hours

Brooklyn Botanic Garden in Bloom
Open early & late! Tuesday–Thursday: 8 a.m.–8:30 p.m.
Open early! Friday–Sunday: 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
Closed Mondays

Entrances

150 Eastern Parkway (click for map)
455 Flatbush Avenue (click for map)
990 Washington Avenue (click for map)
Brooklyn, NY 11225