Peak bloom may hit later due to our brutal winter

State of play: "Heat drives the trees to bloom, so when you have colder temperatures, it takes longer for the blossoms to arrive," National Park Service spokesperson Mike Litterst tells Axios.

• There's no official peak projection yet, but Litterst says bloom will likely come "later in the season than we've seen for the last few years."

🌸 By the numbers: Recent peak bloom dates:

• March 28 (2025)
• March 17 (2024) — the second earliest on record
• March 23 (2023)

Between the lines: The latest peak bloom to date was April 18, 1958.

Driving the (good) news: The deep freeze hasn't harmed the trees, Litterst says. They've weathered colder, snowier winters.

Also safe: Young saplings recently delivered to the Tidal Basin.

• Those trees — mostly cherry varieties — replace more than 150 removed in 2024 for the seawall rehabilitation project, which wrapped late last year.
• Like the original Tidal Basin blossoms, the new trees are a gift from Japan "in the spirit of cultural exchange," per NPS — 250 trees commemorating America's bicentennial, to be planted in the coming months.

What we're watching: Whether more snow this weekend, potentially, pushes back the bloom forecast.

• And how the late-bloomers align with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, March 20-April 12.