UPDATED: Royal Botanical Gardens' cherry blossoms now in ‘peak bloom'
The Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) says its cherry blossoms are now in 'peak bloom.'
'Warm weather over the weekend pushed the Flowering Cherry Collection into peak bloom,' the RBG, which straddles Burlington and Hamilton, stated on its
bloom watch webpage
.
'Plan your visit soon, as these ephemeral blooms are extremely sensitive to heat, wind, and rain.'
RBG horticulture director Jon Peter, in an April 28 email interview, stated that 'all the early types (are) in full bloom and some of the later types (are) beginning.'
If it seems they're a tad late this year, that would only be because lots of people have a short memory.
The RBG keeps a yearly tab on peak bloom and last year's peak bloom was listed as April 18. For 2023, it was April 19. For 2022, on the other hand, it wasn't until May 7.
Peter said this year's timing, at least for the RBG, is influenced by two factors including 'being late coming out of winter, followed by some quick advancement the past two weeks with consistent 10 C to 20 C-plus days.'
The previous two years (2024, 2023) 'were early years and 2025 is back to normal timing,' he said.
Over the last 20 years, the earliest date listed for peak bloom was April 4 in 2012 and the latest was May 14 in 2014. The full list is
here
.
It's cherry blossom time. This photo was taken April 28 at the RBG.
It's been a good spring, thus far, Peter said.
'Buds are all looking really good this year for cherries and magnolias. Foliage is yet to emerge as they flower before leaves. The flowers and leaves are set in buds last fall, so with the excellent flowering we are seeing, I would think the foliage will be nice and healthy as well.'
While the cherry blossoms always seem to get the big press, they aren't the only game in town.
'We are nearing end of forsythia and star magnolia blooms, but the saucer magnolias, cherries, and daffodils are moving towards peak,' he said.
'Other groups of blooms that will start soon are crabapples, redbuds, dogwoods, more viburnums, and of course the lilacs.
'Lilac buds are emerging, but no flowers are open yet.
'Also, today (April 28) I saw the first of the tulips to open, with lots more on the way.'
The RBG has a
handy guide
to what it has currently in bloom.
EDITOR'S NOTE - April 29, 2025:
this story has been updated with the latest information on peak bloom.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
29-04-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
UPDATED: Royal Botanical Gardens' cherry blossoms now in ‘peak bloom'
The Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) says its cherry blossoms are now in 'peak bloom.' 'Warm weather over the weekend pushed the Flowering Cherry Collection into peak bloom,' the RBG, which straddles Burlington and Hamilton, stated on its bloom watch webpage . 'Plan your visit soon, as these ephemeral blooms are extremely sensitive to heat, wind, and rain.' RBG horticulture director Jon Peter, in an April 28 email interview, stated that 'all the early types (are) in full bloom and some of the later types (are) beginning.' If it seems they're a tad late this year, that would only be because lots of people have a short memory. The RBG keeps a yearly tab on peak bloom and last year's peak bloom was listed as April 18. For 2023, it was April 19. For 2022, on the other hand, it wasn't until May 7. Peter said this year's timing, at least for the RBG, is influenced by two factors including 'being late coming out of winter, followed by some quick advancement the past two weeks with consistent 10 C to 20 C-plus days.' The previous two years (2024, 2023) 'were early years and 2025 is back to normal timing,' he said. Over the last 20 years, the earliest date listed for peak bloom was April 4 in 2012 and the latest was May 14 in 2014. The full list is here . It's cherry blossom time. This photo was taken April 28 at the RBG. It's been a good spring, thus far, Peter said. 'Buds are all looking really good this year for cherries and magnolias. Foliage is yet to emerge as they flower before leaves. The flowers and leaves are set in buds last fall, so with the excellent flowering we are seeing, I would think the foliage will be nice and healthy as well.' While the cherry blossoms always seem to get the big press, they aren't the only game in town. 'We are nearing end of forsythia and star magnolia blooms, but the saucer magnolias, cherries, and daffodils are moving towards peak,' he said. 'Other groups of blooms that will start soon are crabapples, redbuds, dogwoods, more viburnums, and of course the lilacs. 'Lilac buds are emerging, but no flowers are open yet. 'Also, today (April 28) I saw the first of the tulips to open, with lots more on the way.' The RBG has a handy guide to what it has currently in bloom. EDITOR'S NOTE - April 29, 2025: this story has been updated with the latest information on peak bloom.
Yahoo
10-10-2024
- Yahoo
Late hurricane scientist's ashes spread over Milton's eye in final flight
In a special tribute to late hurricane scientist Peter Dodge, meteorologists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) performed a burial from the sky, spreading his ashes over the eye of the now-historic Hurricane Milton. Throughout his 44-year career as a federal hurricane radar scientist and researcher with NOAA, Dodge performed hundreds of hurricane flights, according to his former colleague, meteorologist Jeff Masters. Masters worked alongside Dodge at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Florida. MORE: Hurricane Milton live updates: 10 fatalities confirmed, Florida spared 'worst-case scenario' "He did a colossal number of flights into hurricanes. I mean, he did 386 hurricane eye penetrations. And on a typical flight, you do four penetrations through the eye. So that means he flew through on the order of 100 different hurricanes," Masters told ABC News of Dodge's storied career. Dodge died at age 73 after suffering a stroke in 2023, according to Masters. Before his death, he developed an eye condition that prevented him from continuing performing hurricane flights, Masters said. "He would have had a lot more hurricane penetrations if he didn't have that eye condition," Masters said. "There aren't very many people that are in that rarefied of air -- I think maybe only 10 or so scientists have flown as many eye penetrations as Peter did." MORE: Hurricane Milton damage emerges after storm passes into Atlantic Ocean NOAA Aircraft Operations Center crew dropped Dodge's ashes into the eye of Milton Tuesday when the storm was at Category 5 strength over the Gulf of Mexico. Michael Lowry, a hurricane researcher at WPLG-TV in Florida, shared a photo on X of the flight's Vortex Data Message, which logs meteorological data and observations made during the trip. A line on the NOAA log read, "PETER DODGE HX SCI (1950–2023) 387TH PENNY." "HX SCI" means "hurricane scientist," and "387TH PENNY" is short for eye penetration, signaling this was Dodge's 387th flight into the eye of a hurricane. "What a better tribute to do for him than to put him in a storm that really would have fascinated him and been something he would have wanted to study in great detail," Masters said of the burial. "All of his former colleagues, gathered there to say a quick word, a quick prayer and commit his ashes to the great atmosphere -- that he spent his whole life devoted to," Masters said. "That's just a wonderful way to go out," Masters added. Late hurricane scientist's ashes spread over Milton's eye in final flight originally appeared on
Yahoo
10-10-2024
- Yahoo
Ashes of Florida hurricane hunter take final mission into Milton's eye
Peter Dodge, a meteorologist who flew into hurricanes on 'Miss Piggy', a P-3 Orion operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, had his ashes dropped into eye of Hurricane Milton's eye as it was approaching Florida. Dodge was a NOAA meteorologist of 44 years and died in 2023. NOAA hurricane hunters dropped his ashes inside Milton's eye on Tuesday in a tribute to his life studying powerful tropical storms. 'Peter truly had an unyielding passion for participating in field activities, including flying, and an insatiable curiosity for research,' said Shirley Murillo, deputy director of the NOAA's hurricane research division in a statement. 'By releasing his ashes into Hurricane Milton, we sought to honor his memory and his spirit of teamwork, adventure and curiosity.' Related: Florida starts to assess Hurricane Milton destruction as 3 million without power Dodge, a Florida resident, served as the onboard radar scientist on hurricane hunter missions. He had advanced expertise in radar technology and coordinated with research landfall teams to gather data with mobile weather platforms. Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert at WPLG in Miami, wrote on X that a vortex data message, sent out by the plane to record information about Milton, featured a tribute to Dodge's final mission. 'PETER DODGE HX SCI (1950-2023) 387TH PENNY', it read, with '387th' referring to the number of his flights. Lowry called spreading the renowned meteorologist's ashes into Milton's eye and the data message a 'beautiful tribute'. Among Dodge's contributions was an academic paper on Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005 and caused $125bn in damage, that modeled forces associated with winds, waves and storm surge to better understand the performance of flood control systems. Over the course of his career, Dodge received numerous awards from NOAA, the Department of Commerce and the Army Corps of Engineers. On Tuesday and Wednesday, comments honoring Dodge poured in on social media. 'Quite the tribute to a man who dedicated his life to studying these storms,' said Miami's Fox 8.
