The 1912 Cherry Tree Plantings

Two Yoshino cherry trees planted on March 27, 1912, by First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States, stand among the thousands of cherry trees that grow in East and West Potomac Park and on the Washington Monument grounds. The planting grew from years of effort to establish Japanese flowering cherry trees in the Washington, D.C. area. David Fairchild of the U.S. Department of Agriculture became an early force behind the idea after visiting Japan in 1902, then planted flowering and weeping cherry trees on his Chevy Chase, Maryland, estate, expanded those plantings, and donated saplings to District of Columbia schools while urging that cherry trees line Potomac Park. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, an American travel writer and photographer, had begun pressing for such plantings after returning from Japan in 1885 and continued her campaign for twenty-four years despite repeated failure. In 1909, she turned to Helen Taft, who enthusiastically supported the proposal as part of her work to beautify the Potomac River area and had already directed the planting of ninety Japanese cherry trees near the Lincoln Memorial. That same year, Tokyo's mayor, Yukio Ozaki, offered 2,000 cherry trees as a gift of friendship, but the first shipment, which arrived on January 6, 1910, was found to be infested and was burned on President Taft's order. Expressions of regret prevented a diplomatic setback, replacements were arranged, and on March 27, 1912, the first plantings of about 3,020 cherry trees began along the Potomac River, Rock Creek, and the White House grounds. Fewer than 200 of Mayor Ozaki's original trees may survive today, and the two Yoshino trees planted by Taft and Viscountess Chinda endure as a testament to the long effort that created Washington's celebrated spring blossoms.

Arlington, Virginia · United States