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A whole lot more on the cherry trees of DC ….
The quest to have cherry trees in DC started in earnest in 1908, when Dr. David Fairchild, described as a "plant explorer" and an official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave cherry saplings to each school in Washington DC to be planted in their schoolyards on Arbor Day.
In 1909 money was privately raised to purchase cherry trees and donate them to the city. The First Lady, Helen Taft made suggestions of where they should be planted and basically took up the cause…. Dr. Jokichi Takamine, the Japanese chemist who discovered adrenaline and takadiastase was in Washington and when he heard that we were to have Japanese cherry trees he asked Mrs Taft if she would accept a donation of an additional 2,000 trees which would be given in the name of the City of Tokyo. Of course the First Lady agreed.
Ninety Cherry Trees were purchased with donated funds and planted along the Potomac River in April 1909 from the Lincoln Memorial southward. (these trees are no longer there).
On December 10th 1909, 2,000 cherry trees arrived in Seattle from Japan – they were then shipped to DC arriving on Jan 6th 1910. For some reason they were not opened and inspected until January 19th! It was then that the Department of Agriculture discovered that the trees were infested with nematodes and diseased. Presidential permission was sought to burn the trees and on January 28th President William Taft gave his consent and the trees were burnt.
Despite this setback Dr Takamine was still determined that DC should have Japanese cherry trees and so he again donated money and increased the number of trees to 3,020.
The scions for these trees were taken in December 1910 from a collection of trees along the Arakawa River in Adachi Ward (in Tokyo) and grafted onto specially selected understock.
On February 14th, 1912, 3,020 cherry trees from twelve varieties were shipped from Yokohama to Seattle. After arriving in Seattle they were put into insulated freight cars and shipped to DC arriving here on March 26th. And, the first two trees were planted the next day.
In 1934 the District of Columbia Commissioners sponsored a three-day celebration and in 1935 the first "Cherry Blossom Festival" was held.
In 1938 a group of women chained themselves together to protest the removal of cherry trees for the construction of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
On December 11th, 1941 four cherry trees were cut down in suspected retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In an attempt to prevent further damage for the duration of WWII the trees were referred to as "Oriental" flowering cherry trees.
In 1952 the National Park Service donated budwood from the trees to Tokyo to help restore the cherry tree grove along the Arakawa River which had declined during WWII.
On April 1958 a rough stone Japanese Pagoda was presented to the City of Washington by the mayor of Yokohama.
In 1982, 800 cuttings were collected from the Tidal Basin trees, by Japanese horticulturists to retain the genetic characteristics of the trees and to replace trees that had been destroyed in Japan.
Between 1986 and 1988, 676 new cherry trees, financed with private funds were planted to restore the number of trees to the original 3,020.
On June 17th 1997; cuttings were taken from the surviving trees of 1912 and have been documented and preserved at the National Arboretum. These will be used in subsequent replacement plantings to preserve the genetic heritage and lineage of the grove.
Basically the sun will never go down on these Japanese Cherry Blossom trees.
Aussie Emjay's Blog 
Wow! Amazing story!It's so great that the trees could be used to maintain the genetic code of ones in Japan.
Luscious photos! It's nice to have the history of these trees, too.
It is amazing isn't it. I like the idea that replacement trees will also have the same lineage.
Thank you. I got quite sucked in once I started reading the history.
I don't mean to be an ignoramous, but did you take these photos? They're gorgeous! And thanks for the information – it's quite facinating!
Thank you Ellie. Yes, I took the photos as we walked around the basin on Saturday.
so pretty. your pictures are wonderful – and the history lesson too!
Great photos and history lesson! Thanks for sharing. Sometime I would like to be in DC for the festival. I'm going to add it to my must see list.
Absolutely gorgeous!
This was absolutely fascinating. As I read I wondered what happened to the cherry trees in Japan during WWII…and you told us. It's actually a comfort to know the cuttings have been preserved so the trees will keep blooming in Japan and DC too. If you ever make it to St. Louis, be sure and visit the Botanical Garden, where they celebrate a Japanese festival every year.
Gorgeous photos with touching history behind that I did not know so in detail as a Japanese! Thank you for sharing!
Here in Japan, cherry blossom season is very special. It is the time of a start of almost everything—of a new school year, of new employees' commencement of working, and even of a new fiscal year. So many Japanese cherish our memories of new starts with cherry blossoms blooming near then.
How is your foot by the way?
Gorgeous photos! I was born in Washington DC, but my family moved from there when I was a baby. My mom has often described the beautiful cherry tree blossoms there….thanks for giving me a great picture! The history lesson was also very interesting! I'll pass that on to my mom. 🙂
thank god that one president who chopped down a cherry tree when he was young was not around or he would have lots of work and lots of confessions to make!Love your photos and it is good you were not in Italy for the earthquakes!they are so peaceful those trees in bloom, I will have to wait for the cherry trees around here to bloom but it snowed today
More beautiful pics and very interesting history. Thanks for the lesson! 🙂
Very interesting post. I'd been wondering why the Japanese originally donated the cherry trees in 1912.
What beautiful photos Emjay, thanks for the history lesson, I wish I was at school now, I would be much more receptive to learning now than when I was 18.
Emmy the pictures are just beautiful! And thank you so much for the history of the cherry trees too :))
[das ist gut]
I LOVE the DC cherry trees, even though I've only had the chance to see them up close and personal once. I visited DC in the early spring many years ago, on my own, and checked out cherry trees, museums and restaurants. I stayed at a very nice and relatively inexpensive bed and breakfast within walking distance of one of the subway stops. Lovely excursion! Thanks for the memories.
The photos are really beautiful! It really feels like spring now.
Normally history doesn't catch my attention. However, this post kept me reading til the end! Very interesting and wonderful pics to go along.
Yes – definitely add a trip to DC to your "to do" list. There are so many things to see here and this is the nicest time of year to visit.
Thank you Leenda.
Thank you RM. 🙂
Thank you and thank you for the link. There is some really interesting research at MO – I checked out the Photo Essays link.
I can imagine waves of cherry blossoms across Japan accompanied by the lovely perfume. The blossoms look so delicate but they must be quite tough to survive frosts and winds here. Thank you for asking about my foot – it is doing quite well now. It was tired at the end of this day as we walked about 4 miles.
Thank you. Maybe one day you will get back here to see them yourself. I found it really interesting to research the history of the trees.
LOL – that's funny about the president and the cherry tree! It would've taken quite a while to chop that many trees down. I'm sure you are getting sick of winter by now! When your trees bloom take photos! 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Thank you Maju. I found the history of these trees really interesting. There was also a lady named Eliza Ruhamah Scidmor who had tried to get the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds to purchase cherry trees for about 24 years from 1885. Hopefully she was still alive to see these trees planted.
LOL – I think I am also much more interested in learning things now than when I was at school. Thank you re the photos.
Thank you Karen. I was surprised to find that I had only taken 120-ish photos – it seemed that I was doing a lot more clicking than that.
It sounds as though you had a lovely trip here – you will have to come again! 🙂
Thank you 🙂 Yes, seeing plants in bloom does give the impression that spring is here – but we are expecting a frost tonight!
Thank you Gina – I am pleased that you found it interesting. As I was typing it I wondered how many people would give up on reading the history.
St. Louis has so many really interesting places….I need to get out and see more of them. Glad you enjoyed the link.
Awesome. I especially love IMG_1778 and IMG_1774ab.Thank you so much for reminding me the story that I learned in my junior high school days but I forgot most of parts.
Wonderful post and photos. Nice to remember how we are tied to Japan thought this special gift of magical trees.
Thank you for sharing those beautiful photos, and the history lesson.
Thank you 🙂 It is interesting to think of you learning this at school – I'm not sure that many American children learn this at school (maybe local children do).
Thank you Grandma-C – I'm glad you enjoyed them.
Well, I think I'm the only one in the group who lived in Japan so I best keep my mouth shut, lol. I knew the history of the DC trees, though not as intimately as you presented; I hadn't known they renamed them the "Oriental trees."
Thank you for posting beautiful photos and a fascinating story. I didn't know so much effort (and money) has been put to keep the same gene of the cherry trees survive for 100 years! Someday, I want to see them with my own eyes.
LOL – I'm sure that in Japan there are many spectacular displays. I was really interested to learn that they have preserved "bits" of them to ensure the lineage and heritage of those original trees is maintained.
Thank you tami. I hope that you get to see them one day also. 🙂
Cherry blossoms, sakura, are an ancient cultural art and symbol. There are stories of garden parties held at the emperor's home timed when the blossoms are at their finest and sweetest peak and of course the blossoms are everywhere in their art, from their gorgeous fabrics to paintings to poetry to woodblock to, naturally, photographs. As a culture, the Japanese are far far far more tuned into seasons than Americans (who are cultural numbskulls), the epitome of which, I think, is expressed in their enjoyment and honoring of sakura. It does not surprise me a bit that that Japanese fellow would make another attempt to bring the trees here.
Now I know why so much poetry has been written about the Cherry Blossoms.Thank you.
I hope they're still blooming a little when we're there this weekend…
Really nice photos!
Yes, the Japanese art is beautiful – as you say, from fabrics to paintings to poetry etc. I am glad that the Japanese fellow was so determined.
Thank you. They certainly lend themselves to being covered by many of the arts.
They are lovely. We have trees just like those in the park at the bottom of my road, I am waiting for them to bloom any day now.