Arbor Day in Piedmont: 100 Years of Cherry Blossoms

April 10, 1872: The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

April 7, 1909: First Lady Helen H. Taft writes to a potential donor of cherry trees to Washington, D.C.: "I thought perhaps it would be best to make an avenue of them, extending down to the turn in the road . . .  they could not reflect in the water, but the effect would be very lovely on the long avenue."

March 26, 1912: 3,020 cherry trees arrived in Washington, D.C., a gift of the Tokyo City Council.

June 17, 1997: In cooperation with the United States National Arboretum, cuttings were taken from the documented, surviving 1912 Yoshino cherry trees shipment, to ensure preservation of the trees' genetic lineage. The same year, a man named David Wright launched a legal action to ensure that the term "Arbor Day" remained in the public domain.

March 30, 2012: The City of Piedmont will bring these threads together in "Arbor Day at the Tea House" from 4 to 6 p.m.

Piedmont will celebrate Arbor Day this year with an afternoon of ceremonial tree planting, garden talks and displays, Japanese music and honors for local garden clubs and the Piedmont Beautification Foundation.

The event, "Arbor Day at the Tea House," is scheduled for Friday, March 30, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Tea House in Piedmont Park.

A highlight will be the planting of four cherry trees, including a Yoshino cherry sapling that is a gift of the Japanese Embassy. Japanese Consul General Hiroshi Inomata and Deputy Consul General Michio Harada will be in attendance.

Piedmont is one of several communities across the U.S. that was selected for the ceremonial planting, which marks the centennial of the City of Tokyo's gift of 3,000 Yoshino cherry trees to Washington, D.C. in March of 1912.

Mayor John Chiang will discuss the history of Arbor Day, and Gordon Deeg, director of the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, will talk about bonsai horticulture.

Randy Deutsch, chair of the city's Park Commission, will serve as master of ceremonies.

Entertainment will include drumming by Emeryville Taiko and a performance by Tim Hamano, who will play the shakuhachi, an ancient bamboo flute. Bonsai and ikibana flower arrangements will be on display, and refreshments will be served.

Representatives of the Piedmont Beautification Foundation will be introduced, as will members of seven community gardening groups: the Dirt Daubers Garden Club, East Bay Garden Club, Garden Guild of the East Bay, Highlanders Garden Club, Hoe and Hope Garden Club, Home Gardeners Garden Club and Piedmont Garden Club.

The public is invited.

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