with cherry trees in bloom in West Potomac Park The famous
sakura Japanese cherry trees of Washington, D.C., line the
Tidal Basin and are the main attraction at the
National Cherry Blossom Festival in early spring, when the cherry blossoms bloom.
Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, upon returning to
Washington, D.C., from a visit to
Japan, initiated the idea of cherry trees in Washington, D.C., She approached the Superintendent of Public Building and Grounds, then Colonel Spencer Cosby, about the idea in 1885. Her idea was rejected; over the next 24 years, Scidmore approached every new superintendent, but the idea was never authorized. In 1906, Dr.
David Fairchild, a
botanist who worked for the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, imported 75 flowering cherry trees and 25 single-flowered weeping types from the Yokohama Nursery Company in
Japan. Fairchild planted these trees on a hillside on his own property in
Chevy Chase, Maryland, testing their hardiness in the Washington area. In 1907, pleased with the success of the trees, Fairchild and his wife began to promote Japanese flowering cherry trees as the ideal type of tree to plant along avenues in the Washington area. Friends of family also became interested, and on September 26, arrangements were completed with the Chevy Chase Land Company to order 300 Oriental cherry trees for the Chevy Chase area. In 1908, Fairchild gave cherry saplings to boys from each school in the District to plant in schoolyards on
Arbor Day. In closing his Arbor Day speech, Fairchild expressed a vision that the "Speedway" (the present day corridor of Independence Avenue in West Potomac Park) be transformed into a Field of Cherries. In attendance was Eliza Scidmore, who afterwards he referred to as a great authority on Japan. In 1909, Scidmore decided to try to raise the money required to purchase the cherry trees and then donate the trees to the city. Scidmore sent a note outlining her new plan to the new
First Lady,
Helen Herron Taft—the wife of
President William Howard Taft— who had once lived in Japan and was familiar with the beauty of the flowering cherry trees. Two days later, the First Lady responded: :
The White House, Washington :
April 7, 1909 :
Thank you very much for your suggestion about the cherry trees. I have taken the matter up and am promised the trees, but I thought perhaps it would be best to make an avenue of them, extending down to the turn in the road, as the other part (beyond the railroad bridge Ed.) is still too rough to do any planting. Of course, they could not reflect in the water, but the effect would be very lovely of the long avenue. Let me know what you think about this. :
Sincerely yours, :
Helen H. Taft On April 8, the day after Taft's letter, Dr.
Jōkichi Takamine, the Japanese chemist famous as the discoverer of
adrenaline and
takadiastase, was in Washington, D.C., with Midzuno, the Japanese
consul in
New York City. When told Washington was to have Japanese cherry trees planted along the Speedway, he asked whether the First Lady would accept a donation of an additional 2,000 trees. Midzuno thought it was a fine idea and suggested the trees be given in the name of
Tokyo, the capital of
Japan. Takamine and Midzuno met with the Helen Taft, who accepted the offer. On April 13, five days after the First Lady's request, the Superintendent of Public Building and Grounds ordered the purchase of 90 cherry trees (
Prunus serrulata) of the Fugenzo
variety from Hoopes Brothers and Thomas Company in
West Chester,
Pennsylvania. The trees were planted along the Potomac River from the present site of the Lincoln Memorial south toward
East Potomac Park. After planting, it was discovered that the trees were not correctly named, and were not of the Fugenzo variety, but instead of the Shirofugen
cultivar (cultivated variety). These trees have since disappeared. Four months later, on August 30, the Japanese embassy informed the
U.S. Department of State that Tokyo intended to donate 2,000 cherry trees to the United States to be planted along the
Potomac River. On December 10, the trees arrived in
Seattle, and on January 6, 1910 arrived in the capital. However, an inspection team for the Department of Agriculture discovered to everyone's dismay that the trees were infested with
insects,
roundworms, and
plant diseases. To protect American growers, the department concluded that the trees must be destroyed. On January 28, Taft gave permission to destroy the trees, and they were burned. This diplomatic setback resulted in letters from
Secretary of State and the representatives to the Japanese ambassador, expressing deep regret of all concerned. Dr. Takamine, meeting the bad news with goodwill, again donated the costs for the trees in 1912, whose number he now increased to 3,020. The seeds for these trees were taken in December 1910 from the famous collection on the bank of the
Arakawa River in
Adachi Ward, a
suburb of Tokyo, and grafted on specially selected understock produced in
Itami City in
Hyōgo Prefecture. The National Park Service cut 158 of the nearly 3,700 trees in 2024 to rebuild a seawall around the Tidal Basin to strengthen it to withstand sea level rise and more extreme rain events. ==Recreation==