Cherry Blossom trees are in bloom in Rhode Island

PAWTUCKET, R.I., (WJAR) — It's Cherry Blossom Time! The famous trees in Washington, D.C. are long past peak, but the blooms are beautiful right now in Pawtucket and Central Falls.

The Cherry blossoms have popped outside Pawtucket City Hall, and along the three-quarter-mile stretch of Roosevelt Avenue, ending at Chocolate Mill Overlook Park in Central Falls.

“We started a cherry tree nursery there,” says James Toomey of the Blackstone Valley Tourism. “So we take some of these trees and we continue to cycle them through and kind of grow them into size and plant them around the city.”

The 180 locally clustered cherry trees, 6 different types, blossom a couple of weeks after Washington, where the ones there are further south: with a warmer climate, and a greater earlier declination angle to the sun. They ones here are literal offshoots grown from seeds of Washington's 3000 that were a gift of friendship from the Japanese in 1912.

Timothy Jordan who was taking a walk around his new neighborhood was enjoying the scenery on a beautiful Spring day.

“Gives more light to the city,” says Jordan. “We need more fruity colors like that.”

There's a plan in the works to line the entire stretch of Broad Street, from Pawtucket, through Central Falls, all the way down to Cumberland, with Cherry trees., according to Certified Arborist Matt “Twig” Largess, of Largess Forestry.

“It's not in stone yet, but I'm pushing the cities and townsm” says Largess. “These did so well on Roosevelt, the climate in Rhode Island, the soils and conditions were just right.”

That would be 3000 trees along the three and a half mile corridor, part of the Broad Street Regeneration Project.

“We're hoping to make it maybe the largest in the east coast and rival Washington,” adds Largess.

Devon D’Alessio, who works at Le Myres Collision Center on Broad Street in Central Falls likes the idea. He said many of the trees that used to line the street were cut down. “I think it would brighten up the city a little bit, bring more attention to us, you know?”

Not to mention the tourism angle.

Until then, it's a short window, 10 days or so, to catch the cherry tree blossoms, before they're past peak here.

Beth Myette, walking with her co-workers on lunch break, through the blossoming cherry trees that line Roosevelt Avenue, adds “10 days of glory.”