Plum, peach, and cherry blossoms have long been cherished as representative flowers of spring. All of them belong to the Rosaceae family, making it difficult to distinguish between them solely by their flowers. The timing of each blossom’s blooming period has become less predictable due to regional and varietal differences, as well as recent climate changes. However, the typical blooming order is plum, peach, and cherry blossoms.
Plum blossoms, often referred to as “early spring flowers,” bloom from January to April, while peaches, familiar during Girls’ Day celebrations, bloom from March to April. Cherry blossoms, on the other hand, generally bloom from mid-March to early May. Particularly, peach blossoms are essential during the March 3rd “Peach Festival” and are often thought to bloom considerably earlier than cherry blossoms. However, the peaches seen during this festival are a variety called “Yaguchi,” specifically bred for cut flowers. The traditional peach blossoms actually bloom around the same time as cherry blossoms. This is because March 3rd, the date of the Peach Festival, is based on the lunar calendar, which roughly aligns with April 3rd in the Gregorian calendar. Some cherry blossoms, like Kawazu cherry blossoms, overlap with plum blossoms, adding to the mix of blooming times.
Peach trees have both ornamental and fruit-bearing varieties. The peach blossoms used for the Peach Festival are ornamental and not suitable for consumption. The fruit-bearing peach blossoms also bloom during the same period but are pruned to leave only two flowers per branch to ensure fruit production. By doing so, they produce fine peaches from June to July.

梅、桃、桜は春を代表する花として古くから親しまれてきました。いずれもバラ科の花木で花を見分けるのが難しいです。それぞれの花が咲く時期は、地域や品種の違いに加え、近年の気候変動で一概には言いにくくなっていますが、咲く順番としては梅・桃・桜の順が一般的です。
「早春の花」といわれる梅は1月から4月、ひな祭りでもなじみがある桃は3月から4月、そして桜は3月中旬から5月初旬にかけてというのが大体の目安です。特に桃の花は3月3日の「桃の節句」には欠かせない花で、桜よりかなり早く咲く様に思われがちですが、この時の桃の花は「矢口」と呼ばれる品種の花桃で、切り花用に品種改良をされた桃です。本来の桃は咲く時期が桜とほぼ重なっています。これは「桃の節句」の３月3日が旧暦によるもので、今のほぼ４月３日に当たるからです。桜も河津桜の様に梅と重なる桜もありますので、梅、桃、桜の咲く時期は入り乱れています。
桃には花桃と実桃があって、桃の節句に飾られるのは花桃で、実は小さく食用にはなりません。実桃の花も同じ時期に咲きますが、実を実らせるために、一本の枝先に花を２輪だけ残しあとは摘み取ります。そうすることで６月から７月には立派な桃の実を実らせます。