japan announced their intent to give cherry trees to washington dc on august 30, 1909.
japan announced their intent to give cherry trees to washington dc on august 30, 1909.
when did japan announce their intent to give cherry trees to washington dc?
august 30, 1909
on august 30, 1909, the embassy of japan in washington, d.c., informed the u.s. department of state that the city of tokyo intended to donate 2000 cherry trees to the united states to be planted along the potomac. these trees arrived in washington, d.c., on january 6, 1910. however, the inspection team from the department of agriculture (led by flora wambaugh patterson) found that the trees were infested with insects and nematodes, concluding that the trees had to be destroyed to protect local growers. president taft gave the order to burn the trees on january 28. secretary of state philander c. knox wrote a letter expressing the regret of all involved to the japanese ambassador. takamine responded to the news with another donation for more trees, 3020 in all, of a lineage taken from a famous group of trees along the arakawa river in tokyo and grafted onto stock from itami, hyogo prefecture. on february 14, 1912, 3020 cherry trees of twelve cultivars were shipped on board the "awa maru" and arrived in d.c. via rail car from seattle on march 26.
national cherry blossom festival
the famous sakura (japanese cherry trees) of washington line the tidal basin and are the main attraction at the national cherry blossom festival in early spring, when the cherry blossoms bloom. eliza ruhamah scidmore, upon returning to washington from a visit to japan, initiated the idea of cherry trees in washington, approaching the superintendent of public building and grounds (then colonel spencer cosby) in 1885. her idea was rejected; over the next 24 years, scidmore approached every new superintendent, but the idea never came to fruition. in 1906, dr. david fairchild, a botanist who worked for the u.s. department of agriculture, imported 75 flowering cherry trees and 25 single-flowered weeping types from the yokohama nursery company in japan. fairchild planted these trees on a hillside on his own property in chevy chase, maryland, testing their hardiness in the washington area. in 1907, pleased with the success of the trees, fairchild and his wife began to promote japanese flowering cherry trees as the ideal type of tree to plant along avenues in the washington area. friends of family also became interested, and on september 26, arrangements were completed with the chevy chase land company to order 300 oriental cherry trees for the chevy chase area.
west potomac park