Top tips for catching the Cherry Blossoms of Central Park | NYC Family Photographer Paula Ortiz

Top tips for catching the Cherry Blossoms of Central Park

In the springtime from April to May, the cherry blossom trees in Central Park attract nature lovers from all over the world. It's easy to see why, as the splendor of their blooms is as stunning as it is explosive. The full bloom of the cherry blossom trees is a sight to behold, and it's typically reached within a week after the first buds open. Symbolic of the fleeting nature of life, their season is short-lived and the blossoms stick around for just a short time longer before their delicate petals fall to the ground, covering in a blanket of pink and white.

Bloom Times (are weather dependent) 

•  Early to mid-April - Yoshino cherry trees and Magnolia trees which also have beautiful blooms.
• Early May - Kwanzan cherry trees

Locations of the Cherry Blossom Trees

The cherry blossom trees in Central Park can be found mainly between 72nd Street and 96th Street, with the highest concentrations around the Reservoir, Cherry Hill, Pilgrim Hill, Great Lawn, Cedar Hill, and the area just south of Cedar Hill between 74th and 77th Streets.

Map of cherry blossoms tree in central park

There are two main species of cherry trees in Central Park. These are the Kwanzan Cherry and the Yoshino Cherry. The peak bloom time for each varies annually and depends on the weather.

Yoshino Cherry Trees

The Yoshino Cherry Trees in Central Park were brought to the U.S. as a gift from Japan in 1912. This hybrid cherry, which can reach heights of 35 to 45 feet, produces light pink, almost white, slightly fragrant flowers. Expect to see the first buds of these trees blossoming ahead of any other. Before the leaves appear, the simple five-petal flowers emerge in clusters of five or six. As the tree's leaves grow, they typically develop first as a bronze color, later changing to a darker green as the summer approaches.

Top 5 Places for Yoshino Cherry Trees: 

Reservoir (east and west sides)

Cherry Hill

Pilgrim Hill

Nell Singer Lilac Walk (northeast of Sheep Meadow)

Delacorte Theater

Kwanzan Cherry Trees

The Kwanzan Cherry, also known as the Japanese Cherry, is an ornamental cherry tree most commonly found in Japan, Korea and China. This particular tree has double-petal pink flowers, which start to bloom in early May, after the Yoshino Cherry. When these trees first bloom, their leaves are bronze colored and then turn from dark green to yellow to orange, and finally copper in autumn. These trees are fairly small, growing to reach 25 to 30 feet, and have a wide vase-shaped spreading crown. The life span of the Kwanzan Cherry, which does not produce fruit, is 15 to 25 years.

Top 5 Places for Kwanzan Cherry Trees:

• Reservoir (east and west sides)
• Cedar Hill
• The Glade (just south of Cedar Hill between 74th & 77th Streets)
• Behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Great Lawn



Text excerpt from the Central Park website. Visit and learn more about the Cherry Blossoms here