SakuraWatch 2007 Updated Update
Since my last look in at the park was rainy and overcast, I thought it would be a good idea to drop in again yesterday, with a camera and a team of observers solaria735, arkadia, and scruffyrebel.
Here are our findings:
The weather was Partly Cloudy when we made our visit. As previously reported, the trees were mostly bare. But there were a few blossoms to greet us when we arrived.
As you can see here, the sakura trees are hardly what you'd consider "in full bloom." But if you look closely (as scruffyrebel is doing, over on the left), you can see a few cherry blossoms dotting some of the trees.
It was nice to see the few flowers that were in bloom. By next week they'll all be lying dead on the ground, but twice as many new ones will have opened their petals to the sun.
The few flowers in sight looked pretty lonely.
The great majority of the trees resembled the one on the left, above. But a handful of them looked more like the one on the right.
Right now, I'd say that most of what you see on the trees are buds like these, with green tips erupting from their red-brown shells. There were still late-bloomers, buds that didn't yet have any green, but most of them looked like the buds above, and maybe 1% were actually flowers.
A couple of the trees closest to the water had a lot more flowers than any of the other trees, enough to inspire solaria735 to take a snapshot.
So, when will the sakura be in full bloom?
My prediction is, they will be at their absolute peak sometime in March.
Or April.
Or May.