Chicago's cherry blossoms are blooming — but for a limited time

Luying Deng missed seeing the cherry blossoms on Easter Sunday. So, she made it a point on Monday to head to Jackson Park before it’s too late.

She was not disappointed. She saw delicate pink and white flower petals.

“We’re lucky! It’s blooming,” said Deng, of Chicago.

Blooming has begun for some of the 230 cherry trees surrounding the Columbia Basin south of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.

The robust bloom, expected to unfold over the next five to 10 days, has been fueled by fluctuations in weather and temperature, combined with an ample amount of rainfall, according to the Chicago Park District.

But they may not stay like that for long.

“Nature's ephemeral, and everything is contingent on how the winter went," said Michael Dimitroff, director of public art for the Chicago Park District. "Nature is the dictator. We, as practitioners, try to read what's happening. If we have a super hard winter and a mild rollout of warm weather, then it's a little easier to read that they're going to come out when weather starts to break and stays constant."

That time is now.

Predicted Monday night lows below 30 degrees were not expected to affect blooming, Dimitroff said, since it is expected to warm up this week.

“This year, fortunately, it looks like we have a pretty good bloom," Dimitroff said. "We didn't get any radical weather. We had a few ups and downs. You know, [Tuesday] is going to be 28 or 29 [degrees] so that going to slow things down a bit. But if it's just one day, I think we'll be OK."

Jackson Park hasn't always been home to five species of cherry trees.

In 2013, the first batch of 120 trees was planted to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

In the following three years, another 50 were added by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago in honor of their 50th anniversary and the relationship between Chicago and Japan.

In 2022, the park district planted 34 cherry blossom trees bordering the Museum of Science and Industry steps to bring the total to 190. Twenty more trees were planted in the southwest Columbia Basin, north Wooded Island and Japanese garden areas.

And the number of trees should continue to grow.

The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry plans to plant another 60 trees over the next three years.

Dimitroff said the bloom may extend for another week to 10 days, since some of the five cherry blossom species are blooming sooner than others.

"It's just a real heartwarming feeling. It's a feeling that spring is finally upon us in Chicago," Dimitroff said.

Michael Heckman and his 6-year-old son Daxton arrived in Jackson Park Monday from Michigan City, Indiana, to visit the museum and were surprised to see the cherry blossoms.

“I can’t wait for them to bloom all the way,” Heckman said. “I like it. It’s very nice.”