When, Where To See Cherry Blossoms In Central Park

CENTRAL PARK, NY — Big news for blossom-lovers: it's almost cherry blossom season in Central Park.

The first blooms of cherry blossoms in Central Park are less than two weeks away, K Satterthwaite, the Tree Care Manager for the Central Park Conservancy, told Patch.

This Friday, the Central Park Conservancy will begin to publish regular updates on an online cherry blossom tracker, so that park-goers know about every move the park's frothy pink-and-white trees make.

The tracker updates several times a week and will show which varieties of cherry blossoms are blooming, and where blossom-heads can go to find them.

This year, the Conservancy is tracking four different varietals of the tree, along with eight different locations, including two along the Reservoir, the Great Lawn, Cherry Hill, Pilgrim Hill, Sheep Meadow, Bethesda Terrace and the Alice in Wonderland statue.

"The first to bloom are the Okame cherries, and they're found in a few different places in the park. They have bright pink blooms, and they really mark the start of cherry blossom season here," Satterthwaite said. "There's a big group of them on the west side of the reservoir."

Okame trees can also be found in Bethesda Terrace.

But, for bud-lovers who can't get to the park in the next two weeks, don't worry — different varieties of cherry blossoms burst open at different times, and the Kanzan trees are expected to hold off on blooming until the end of April, Satterthwaite said.

"One of the last to bloom is the Kanzan cherries," Satterthwaite said. "Those have these huge, fluffy pink blooms with a ton of petals, so they're kind of like the pom-poms of cherry blossoms."

Kanzan trees can be found on the west side of the Reservoir and surrounding the Alice and Wonderland statue.

"Depending on a lot of factors, like precipitation and wind, they can stick around into the beginning of May," Satterthwaite said.

This year, the Conservancy has added a new location to the cherry blossom tracker — the area around the Alice in Wonderland statue.

"One spot that I added to the tracker, because it's my personal favorite, is around the Alice in Wonderland statue," Satterthwaite said. "There's a big group of cherries there, and it's not quite as busy as the reservoir, so I would recommend going there."

Keep track of Central Park's spring transformation here.

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.