Amazon Celebrates Cherry Blossom Partnership With Tree-Planting

ARLINGTON, VA — Amazon planted 12 cherry trees in the National Landing area of Arlington on Tuesday in a special ceremony to celebrate the company’s partnership with the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Amazon served as a lead sponsor for the 2021 Festival, which was held March 20 through April 11. The 12 trees are located at 1201 South Hayes Street, between 12th and 15th streets, across from California Pizza Kitchen.

The tree planting ceremony was attended by Rob Pulciani, vice president for Alexa International at Amazon; Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, president and executive director for National Landing Business Improvement District; Diana Mayhew, president and CEO for the National Cherry Blossom Festival; state Sen. Adam Ebbin; Vincent Verweij, urban forest manager for the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation; and Carol Herwig, a certified arborist.

“Amazon is proud to call Arlington home and to be part of the fabric of the community as we continue to sustainably grow and build here,” Pulciani said in a statement. “We are excited to continue our partnership with the National Cherry Blossom Festival by bringing the beauty of this regional celebration into the lives and homes of our community.”

More than two years ago, the Arlington County Board approved Amazon's development of the site, which was re-named National Landing and includes neighborhoods in Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard.

In early February, Amazon submitted plans to Arlington County for the second phase of its $2.5 billion headquarters project. The new phase will feature a 350-foot helix-shaped office tower that can be climbed from the outside like a mountain hike.

Amazon, together with developer JBG Smith and the National Landing Business Improvement District, formed a strategic partnership with the National Cherry Blossom Festival to raise awareness of the evolving neighborhood.

Through the partnership, the National Cherry Blossom Festival added programming on the Virginia side of the Potomac River in Arlington in 2021.

"As part of our strategic partnership with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, we’re thrilled to be planting a dozen Japanese Cherry trees in National Landing, that are a perfect complement to our work in creating a vibrant and green destination and celebrating our area's connection to the Tidal Basin and festivals for generations to come,” Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, president and executive director of the National Landing Business Improvement District, said in a statement.

Mayhew, head of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, said the festival organizers were “thrilled” to partner with Amazon, JBG Smith and the National Landing Business Improvement District to officially extend the National Cherry Blossom Festival's footprint across the river through the Art in Bloom exhibition and the City in Bloom installations.

“Thanks to support from Amazon, we were able to plant 12 cherry trees in National Landing to further connect the Festival celebration beyond the Tidal Basin and remind us how Japan's original gift of trees in 1912 continues to bring joy to millions,” she said.