SEATTLE — The University of Washington (UW) is once again asking people to enjoy the iconic campus cherry blossoms from home this year to help reduce the potential spread of COVID-19.
Viewing of the cherry blossoms went virtual in March of last year when concerns about coronavirus were reaching their peak.
The UW has set up a few options for people who would like to virtually view the blooms this year.
You can check out UW Video's live webcam overlooking the quad, or take a virtual tour with photos from campus that will be updated through the blooming season. You can even follow the blooms on Twitter, @uwcherryblossom.
UW arborist Sara Shores also recommended looking for cherry blossoms in your own local parks and neighborhood streets.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) maintains an interactive map of trees across the city. To find cherry trees in your neighborhood, click "Explore street trees" in the top navigation bar, then click on "trees by type" and look for trees with the "Prunus" genus, which can be cherry or plum trees.
Shores said there are dozens of different varieties of blossoming cherry and plum trees in the Seattle area, with blooms visible from early February until May.
How to differentiate a cherry tree from a plum tree?
Shores said cherry trees have distinct horizontal-line patterns on their bark called lenticels, which help the trees "exhale" or release carbon dioxide and water. Plum trees, on the other hand, bloom earlier than most cherries and don't have lenticels on their bark.
Shores said many of the earliest-flowering pink trees each spring are plums. She recommended checking the bark to verify, and plum flowers also tend to smell sweeter than cherry flowers.
