Garden party

Blossom, flower fests springing up all over

WE’RE coming up on cherry blossom festivals, tulip time and lilac season. Here’s a look at some of the places that celebrate spring flowers.

Tulip time

You could go to the Netherlands to see the Keukenhof gardens in Lisse, which are planted with 7 million flowering bulbs — tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and more — blooming Thursday through May 13.

Or you could visit Holland, Michigan, which hosts a Tulip Time Festival May 5 to 13. The city planted 100,000 tulips in 1929, and the annual celebration of the flowers now includes entertainment, costumes, parades and activities.

Pella, Iowa, has also been hosting a Tulip Time celebration for decades. Pella’s event is May 3 to 5, and includes parades, Dutch costumes and performances, a craft and vendor fair, quilt and flower shows in addition to the tulip gardens.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, based in Mount Vernon, Washington, is scheduled for April 1 to 30, though the festival’s website notes that the tulips are expected to bloom the last week of March.

Cherry blossoms

In Washington, D.C., the projected peak for cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin was pushed back to the last week in March because of colder temperatures, with the National Cherry Blossom Festival running Tuesday through April 15. The fest marks the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo’s mayor to the U.S. capital city.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York City also celebrates the blooming of cherry trees that were a gift from Japan. A two-day festival called Sakura Matsuri is planned for April 28 and 29 with 60 events, including performances by taiko drummers. The garden features a Japanese pond and garden as well as an esplanade lined with some of its 200 cherry trees.

Macon, Georgia, claims to be home to 350,000 cherry trees, a phenomenon that began with one tree in the backyard of a local businessman in 1949. The trees are being celebrated through March 25 in what local residents bill as the “pinkest party” on Earth.

In Japan, the cherry trees are expected to begin blooming this week in Tokyo and around March 27 in Kyoto, according to a forecast on the Japan National Tourism Organization website.

Other flower fests

In Rochester, New York, the annual Lilac Festival is May 11 to 20. Organizers say the event draws more than 500,000 people to see not just the largest lilac collection in the U.S., but also music and comedy shows, art exhibits and more. Another lilac festival is held on Michigan’s Mackinac Island from June 8 to 17.

Bluebonnet season brings out locals and visitors alike in Texas Hill Country. Typically they bloom the last week of March through April.

Walt Disney World’s Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival runs through May 28 with display gardens, entertainment and more at the theme park just outside Orlando, Florida.

Ted S. Warren The Associated Press Mount Vernon, Washington, hosts the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival each spring.

Bebeto Matthews The Associated Press The Brooklyn Botanic Garden hosts the Sakura Matsuri fest.

David J. Phillip The Associated Press A field of bluebonnets in bloom near Navasota, Texas.