This year’s Kawazu cherry blossoms were delayed by about 5 days due to the cold weather.  It was announced that the “Kawazu Sakura Festival” scheduled to be held until February 28th (Tuesday) will be extended until March 5th (Sunday).  Kawazu-zakura blooms earlier than Somei-Yoshino, and from around the end of January, it blooms with pale pink and large flowers (about 4-5 cm).  The flowering period is long and the leaves are attached early, so you can enjoy both pink flowers and fresh green.  Kawazu-zakura native to Japan, which was born from the natural crossing of Oshima-zakura and Kanhi-zakura, which are endemic to Japan, was discovered along the Kawazu River by Mr. Iida around 1955.  Kawazu cherry blossoms have been planted for 70 years from a single original species, and now there are about 850 cherry blossoms along the Kawazu River alone, and about 8,000 cherry blossoms in total.

年の河津桜は寒さのせいで開花も５日ほど遅れたそうです。その分、2月28日(火)まで開催される予定の「河津桜まつり」が３月5日(日)まで延長されることが発表されました。河津桜はソメイヨシノに比べると早咲きで1月下旬ごろから淡紅色で大ぶりの花（約4～5cm）を咲かせます。花期も長く葉も早い段階でつけるため、ピンクの花と新緑を両方楽しむことができます。日本固有種のオオシマザクラとカンヒザクラの自然交雑から生まれた日本原産の河津桜は、昭和30年ごろに地元の飯田氏によって河津川沿いで発見されました。一本の原種から70年をかけて植え続けられた河津桜は、今では河津川沿いだけで約850本、全体で約8,000本の桜が咲いています。