Hanami (literally “flower watching”) season in Japan is when everyone goes out for a picnic in a park, along a river, etc and drink and eat a lot.
I never thought about it much until I read this post, so I dug up some Japan cherry blossom forecast websites. I even found this one in English for comparison. They take their cherry blossoms very seriously around here. It is a pretty awesome sight when you can walk along a river or creek and see dozens to hundreds of cherry trees in bloom and dropping little pink petals into the water. The creek near my house becomes literally blanketed in pink every year for about a week along a two kilometer stretch. It’s pretty cool.
Japanese Cherry Blossom Bloom Forecast
http://www.jnto.go.jp/sakura/eng/index.php
That could be the earliest peak bloom ever!
The cherry blossoms are nice with their light pink, but the pink flowering crab apples which come slightly later are also pretty with their deeper coloring. In addition, there are lots more of them.
Danger, Warning: Make sure to avoid letting the tiny aliens hiding in the cherry blossom’s enter your ear canals otherwise you’ll end up “Brain Dead”! ;o) (For fans of the show)
I noticed my neighbor’s zoysia grass has green peaking out already. (NC)
With only three days of winter in Northwest Florda, our azaleas are a month ahead of schedule and are almost through blooming.