Hanami 2026 花見2026

Since the past winter was brutally cold, it was estimated that the cherry trees in the Washington area would not bloom until early April; much later than usual.  But somebody forgot to inform the cherry trees of the proposed schedule. After just a few warm days the cherry trees in our backyard snapped to attention and before we knew it, they were in spectacular full bloom. And when did this occur? At the end of March; the time they usually put on their performance. With the cherry trees in full bloom it was time for us to snap to attention and seriously celebrate the coming of spring. As we may have mentioned before we have 3 cherry trees in our back yard. They are of different ages and different vintages. They generally bloom in sequence, one after the other, with the one we called the smallest (which is now the tallest) so named because I rescued it as a small twig, going first. Next is the newest member of the “family” which we planted in 2018 to replace the cherry tree we planted soon after we moved into the house but was destroyed by a large branch that flew off the neighbors pine tree during a Nor'Easter in 2018. Last to bloom is the oldest cherry tree (the Grand Dame) which was well established in our backyard when we moved in. (We would like to think it may be around 70 years old). This year all three were blooming in succession but almost simultaneously.  So, celebration was mandatory. We invited our friends over and had our Hanami 花見. One of our guests is a vegetarian. We made a special “sashimi” plate of assorted vegetarian appetizers for them to enjoy while we had a plate of actual sashimi. The vegetarian plate shown in the picture was an assortment of  dishes we have previously posted.

1. Persimmon  and green beans dressed in tofu dressing 柿とインゲンの白和, 2. Japanese omelet with dried “aonori” sea weed 青のり入りのだし巻き, 3. roasted red pepper sauce omelet 赤パプリカソースのだし巻き, 4.  pan-fried oyster mushroom 平茸の洋風ソテー, 5. mock tofu 擬制豆腐,

6. braised crunchy cauliflower モンパルナスのカリフラワー炒め, 7. Braised baby artichokes 8. marinated quail eggs うずらの味玉, 9.eggplant caviar ナスのキャビア. I was very careful to make sure I did not use any classic Japanese “dashi” broth which contains bonito flakes and other fish derived flavors. Instead, I used a broth made from kelp and dried shiitake mushrooms.

After this, we had assorted nigiri-sushi, rolls (vegetarian sushi and rolls for our vegetarian friend). Although it was rainy when we had our friends over, our main cherry tree was in full bloom shown in this picture.

In addition, our Easter amaryllis (and even some tardy Christmas ones) were also in full bloom.

What’s not to like about this after the harsh winter we had? Although this lasts only a short time we should still be able to have several more hanami.