This time of year, Seattle awakens from its hibernation. The gauzy blanket of gray clouds starts to dissolve, exposing blue skies and sunshine. When that happens, spectacular things occur. Buds form on trees, bulbs break through the soil, and a formerly gray and green landscape becomes dotted with color. One of my favorite signs of spring is the explosion of cherry blossoms at the Quad at the University of Washington.
The blooming trees have been an annual attraction for decades, drawing visitors from near and far. In the years since I started making a yearly campus visit with my husband, I’ve seen it all: families taking in the sights with their children, students sunbathing on the grass on an unseasonably warm day, and a bride and groom getting their wedding photos taken.
This year we visited on Friday, in the late afternoon at the start of a weekend. Classes were out, students were few and far between, and we had the Quad almost to ourselves with a few exceptions, including a couple taking self portraits while sitting cozily under a tree. We had captured a break in the rain in an otherwise wet week, and the slowly setting sun bounced brilliantly off the blossoms.
The 31 Yoshino cherry trees in the Quad have been a fixture at the university since the early 1960s, when they were transferred from their prior home at Washington Park Arboretum. They bloom each spring for about three weeks. This year, some of the trees started blooming in mid-March, so if you want to catch them before the petals fall, you’ll want to act soon. The UW Information & Visitors Center has been posting updates on its Facebook page, so you can use that to help plan your visit.