Cherry Blossoms

[Blossoms], circa 1975, V1990.2.219; Donald L. Nowlan Brooklyn collection, ARC.120; Brooklyn Historical Society.

If you missed the annual Sakura Matsuri, Brooklyn Botantic Garden’s cherry blossom festival, it’s not too late to experience the last of the blooming cherry blossoms in Brooklyn. According to the BBG website, the cherry blossoms bloom from late March or early April until mid-May. There are 26 different species of flowering cherries at the park, and there is no time where they all bloom at once. Instead, they all flower at different times and bloom for no longer than a week at a time. To learn more about the cherry blossoms at BBG or to plan a visit, check out their website here.

The photo of the week depicts a view of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Cherry Esplanade in full bloom, sometime around 1975. This photograph comes from the Donald L. Nowlan Brooklyn collection that comprises 122 color photographic prints, 165 color slides, and three black-and-white photographic prints that document locations in Brooklyn during the 1960s and 1970s. Subjects include Coney Island, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect Park, and a Reenactment of Brooklyn in Prospect Park (circa 1979). To view more photographs from this collection, check out this gallery.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org