4 ms·

The Innovator Who Introduced Cherry Blossoms to the US

42 points by jpamata 9y ago

brudgers 9y ago
related, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami, https://www.fairchildgarden.org/ https://www.fairchildgarden.org/
- matthewmcg 9y ago
  You can also visit his house in Coconut Grove (the Kampong) but advanced reservations are required. It's worth it: https://ntbg.org/gardens/kampong#tours https://ntbg.org/gardens/kampong#tours
Eurongreyjoy 9y ago
When I lived in DC I had very mixed feelings about the impact of the Cherry Blossom Festival. On one hand its creates a ton of Tourism Revenue for the city, on the other the streets and parks become over crowded and you see the increase in litter and pollution at the parks. I never heard this story and was only familiar with the story the Mayor of Tokyo donated the trees to establish friendly connections with the capital. A quick search to the Wikipedia page though includes some detail about the Fairchild family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cherry_Blossom_Festival https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cherry_Blossom_Festiv...
- tvanantwerp 9y ago
  I'm always torn--I love to see the cherry blossoms, but hate wading through the crowds of tourists.
  - Eurongreyjoy 9y ago
    Everyone wants their Facebook photo with the Jefferson Memorial in the background. I just wish they were aware enough to obey basic traffic rules and avoid walking in clearly marked bike lanes.
thedailymail 9y ago
When I saw the headline, I expected this article would be about Jokichi Takamine, a biotechnology pioneer from Japan who paid for the 2000 sakura trees donated to DC by the governor of Tokyo. I wasn't aware of the Fairchild/Marlatt stories, so it's interesting to see how the multiple historical threads converge. https://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/archive/mdd/v04/i12/html/12timeline.html https://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/archive/mdd/v04/i12/html/12ti...
tejohnso 9y ago
I thought it was going to be about the chocolate treat[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Blossom_(candy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Blossom_(candy)
OhHeyItsE 9y ago
Fun Fact: The largest collection of Cherry Blossoms in the United States is in Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/the_story_behind_branch_brook_parks_cherry_blossom.html http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/the_story_behind_br... https://www.newarkhappening.com/cherry-blossom-festival/ https://www.newarkhappening.com/cherry-blossom-festival/

42 points by jpamata 9y ago

related, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami, https://www.fairchildgarden.org/ https://www.fairchildgarden.org/

matthewmcg 9y ago
You can also visit his house in Coconut Grove (the Kampong) but advanced reservations are required. It's worth it: https://ntbg.org/gardens/kampong#tours https://ntbg.org/gardens/kampong#tours

Eurongreyjoy 9y ago

When I lived in DC I had very mixed feelings about the impact of the Cherry Blossom Festival. On one hand its creates a ton of Tourism Revenue for the city, on the other the streets and parks become over crowded and you see the increase in litter and pollution at the parks. I never heard this story and was only familiar with the story the Mayor of Tokyo donated the trees to establish friendly connections with the capital. A quick search to the Wikipedia page though includes some detail about the Fairchild family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cherry_Blossom_Festival https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cherry_Blossom_Festiv...

tvanantwerp 9y ago
I'm always torn--I love to see the cherry blossoms, but hate wading through the crowds of tourists.
- Eurongreyjoy 9y ago
  Everyone wants their Facebook photo with the Jefferson Memorial in the background. I just wish they were aware enough to obey basic traffic rules and avoid walking in clearly marked bike lanes.

thedailymail 9y ago

When I saw the headline, I expected this article would be about Jokichi Takamine, a biotechnology pioneer from Japan who paid for the 2000 sakura trees donated to DC by the governor of Tokyo. I wasn't aware of the Fairchild/Marlatt stories, so it's interesting to see how the multiple historical threads converge. https://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/archive/mdd/v04/i12/html/12timeline.html https://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/archive/mdd/v04/i12/html/12ti...

tejohnso 9y ago

I thought it was going to be about the chocolate treat[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Blossom_(candy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Blossom_(candy)

OhHeyItsE 9y ago

Fun Fact: The largest collection of Cherry Blossoms in the United States is in Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/the_story_behind_branch_brook_parks_cherry_blossom.html http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/the_story_behind_br... https://www.newarkhappening.com/cherry-blossom-festival/ https://www.newarkhappening.com/cherry-blossom-festival/