| People flock to cherry blossom destinations each year to greet spring, capitalizing on those few weeks when the weather is changing and signature pink blossoms are at their best. But timing a visit to peak bloom is key to not wasting a trip. Cherry blossom destinations have tried different strategies for keeping users up to date. Washington, D.C. has a livestream of its renowned cherry blossoms. Central Park just launched a new Google Map. Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Cherrywatch map stands out. The bright lime stylized map is the product of years of iteration, inspired by original paper park maps.  Cherrywatch map at peak bloom. Credit: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Each morning in March and April, Arthur Hanna, Brooklyn Botanic Garden's website designer, steps out from behind the desk and walks around the grounds with a clipboard, hunting for signs of first bloom. Back at the desk each day, Hanna plugs in the data for each individual tree in Cherrywatch. "The purpose is to give people a pretty good estimation of what they will see when they go," said Hanna. The garden first started tracking cherry blooms in the early 2000s, on paper. In 2006, it added an image to the website, updating it a few times a season. Today's version inherits its visual style from a 2010s-era paper park map, but "a little more artistic," added Hanna. Aided by modern web tools, Hanna updates the map daily, adding interactivity to view each individual tree, its species and its bloom status. Over the years, designers have added landmarks to orient viewers, like the winding path down to the esplanade and the "ghost trees" that line the Japanese Garden.  Cherrywatch in March 2006. Credit: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn's Botanic Garden saw an average of 270,000 visitors during April and early May in 2019 and 2022 when it was operating at full capacity, according to garden representatives.
Even in 2020, while the park was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hanna still updated the Cherrywatch map every day. Eager cherry blossom hunters assembled on a nearby hill to get a peek, peering over the park's fence at the pink esplanade below. The Cherry Esplanade is again in full bloom this week, and should stay in bloom for the next one or two weeks at most, according to garden representatives. If you find yourself in New York, see them while you can, and make sure to check Cherrywatch! - Patrick Spauster Laura Bliss's podcast, Bedrock, USA, has been nominated for a Webby Award in the news and politics category. Please vote here to support it! - Tracking the NYC police who park on the sidewalk (Bloomberg CityLab)
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