Here Come the Kanzans!

by | Apr 9, 2021

Prunus ‘Kanzan’ courtesy of the U.S. National Arboretum


Just as the ‘Kanzans’ come into bloom, my ‘season’ of cherry blossom talks via Zoom is behind me for 2021. I was thrilled to ‘meet’ so many interesting people virtually, and appreciate everyone’s interest in my favorites, the flowering cherry trees — what they mean to the Japanese, how they came to Washington, D.C., and what some new varieties are today. It seems the feeling was mutual– here’s a comment I was delighted to receive and now thank the anonymous sender: “It was a wonderful presentation. Ann was so personable! I certainly learned a lot.”

About the ‘Kanzans,’ they are not everyone’s favorite variety because the blossoms emerge with the leaves. Still, I like to stand beneath them and look up into their over-arching bowers of fluffy, deep-pink flowers with more than thirty petals to each bloom. Then, when all those ‘Kanzan’ petals fall, the pink “snow” that drifts beneath the trees onto sidewalks and streets is breathtakingly beautiful to me. I hope there are ‘Kanzans’ where you can enjoy them too.