BROOKLYN, N.Y. — It’s showtime at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Their signature collection of cherry trees is blooming on the garden’s famous Cherry Esplanade. 

Typically, this would be the backdrop for the garden's popular Sakura Matsuri, the Cherry Blossom Festival, but for the second year, it has been canceled because of the pandemic. Still, the garden says there will be some activities on weekends coinciding with Hanami, the Japanese tradition of viewing the cherry blossoms.  

What You Need To Know

  • The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has more than 200 cherry trees

  • It is one of the most diverse collections of cherries outside of Japan

  • The popular Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival has been canceled because of the pandemic, but there will be some music and dance performances on weekends during cherry blossom season
  • The garden is open with reduced capacity and timed entry. Tickets can be purchased online with some free tickets available to the community

"We have Japanese dancing, different kinds of musicians spread along the garden, so people kind of socially distance, they sit on the lawn. So it's kind of like Sakura Matsuri light,” said Adrian Benepe, the garden’s president and CEO. 

While the cherries may be the stars of the show, spring brings plenty more blooming action at the garden.

"The crab apples have started blooming this week,” said Nancy Nieland, curator of the four acre Osborne Garden at BBG. She grew up nearby and takes a lot of pride in the section of the garden close to Eastern Parkway.  

"With the combination of the wisteria and the larger older crab apples it's really a wonderful display,” said Nieland. 

"We're 52-acres of plants, but we show almost all of the plant kingdom and to kind of squeeze that much diversity into such a finite space is a really key thing to do,” said Rowan Blaik, vice president of horticulture. 

As the garden rebounds from its nearly five-month COVID-19 closure, there is another battle. They are opposing construction of a high rise development on nearby Franklin Avenue, which Benepe says would block hours of sunlight from the garden's greenhouses and nurseries. As that fight continues, Benepe says the goal is to keep providing visitors with an escape from city life.

"We see people just so happy to be out, to be among beauty and to be off the city streets and away from the pressure of the pandemic and we are delivering a lot of joy here,” said Benepe. 

You can plan your visit to the garden at here.