Buffalo’s Cherry Blossoms

By Kylie Franklin

After a cold and harsh winter, spring revives the world around us. When spring comes flowers bloom and life begins to grow back. If you’re bored and want to do a fun and quick activity outdoors, you should visit the Buffalo Japanese Garden. The highlight of the Japanese Garden is the cherry blossom trees, which during late April to early May are in blossom with beautiful pink and white petals. The garden itself has a small walking path that takes about 15-20 minutes to walk through, being directly next to a break off of Hoyt Lake.

The cherry blossoms are so loved they even have an annual festival. During April 25th to the 27th, Buffalo held a cherry blossom festival this year to celebrate the arrival of spring and the cherry blossoms. The festival had multiple activities occurring hourly and simultaneously from 11am to 2pm at different locations. These activities were varied, most were speakers talking about the history and care of the garden and the cherry blossoms. The garden itself has a variety of cherry blossoms but almost all of them bloom at the same time, creating a swarm of pink and white petals in the trees.

While you may be tempted to take some cherry blossoms home with you, there is no touching allowed and even rope barriers to keep visitors from damaging the trees and lawns, keeping the cherry blossoms healthy and safe for everyone to enjoy. When seeing the cherry blossoms in person, many people feel compelled to take pictures, so just be sure to be mindful and respectful of the rules before snapping a pic. The cherry blossoms make for a beautiful background for pictures. During my own personal experience visiting, I encountered a wedding party taking pictures under the clouds of pink petals.

Since the Japanese garden is public, it’s open for long hours (5am to 10pm) and there is no admission fee as well as free parking. The park is a perfect place to visit for a relaxing and peaceful walk around the garden – and with how conveniently close – with maybe even a quick trip to the history museum. The garden itself wraps around the museum’s building and leads out towards the lake. The lake holds some fish, so you might be able to spot them while walking along the path.

For anyone looking to take senior/graduate pictures, the Japanese Garden’s cherry blossoms make for an amazing picture. Going during a weekday will more than likely be when the park is least busy, which is important for anyone who plans to visit and wishes to avoid large crowds. The cherry blossoms are popular, bringing crowds of visitors to come to look at their beauty. Anyone who visits the garden while the blossoms are in bloom should expect that there will more than likely be at very least a light crowd.

The cherry blossoms are more than worth visiting, being a sight of spring’s arrival and a calming place to get outside. The garden on its own is cozy and is easy for visitors to take a stroll along the lake, allowing them to look at the cherry blossoms from another angle in the reflection of the water. If you have nothing to do and want to see cherry blossom trees, this is the place to go.