Cherry blossoms, historic estates and secret gardens: A different side of Washington, DC

When I visited Washington, DC in spring last year I was intrigued to find out what this capital city would have to offer the garden and nature lover. I was primarily there for the annual Cherry festival, but I was thrilled to discover there was lots more to see.

The city itself is surprisingly green for a capital with a wide, open skyline and sweeping lawns, trees and gardens defining the landscape. I stayed in Georgetown, a historic neighbourhood just a short bus or subway ride from the main attractions with homely, cobbled streets, grand residential architecture and designer shops. It felt a world away from the boulevards of the National Mall and as I walked it’s charming streets I noticed it has its own Georgetown Garden Club. In May they hold garden tours around local private gardens with all proceeds going back to Georgetown’s parks and recreation facilities. It was a shame to miss it but there were plenty of other horticultural delights to occupy me.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival

In 1912 as a symbol of friendship, the Mayor of Tokyo gifted over 3,000 cherry trees to the city of Washington, DC. Trees were planted along the Tidal basin, this became an annual tradition, and in 1934 the National Cherry Blossom Festival was born.

Spanning four weeks in March and April when the blossom bursts, the festival is a celebration of the cherries and the joys of spring, and it resonates across the city. The most popular place to see the blossom is the Tidal basin but you can also walk among the cherries along the National Mall and Potomac Park, at the National Arboretum and even in neighbouring Maryland and Virginia. A grand opening ceremony kicks it all off with artists from both Japan and the US and is followed by other events such as a Blossom Kite Festival and the National Parade, and shops, galleries and restaurants join in with this festival of the season. There’s even a real-time ‘Bloomwatch’ camera fixed on the tidal basin so you can keep watch and track peak bloom time!

The original cherries gifted from Japan represented 12 different varieties, but now Yoshino (P. x yedoensis) and Kwanzan (P. serrulata ‘Kanzan’) are the most common trees you’ll see in the city. Yoshino cherries, with their single white blooms, circle the Tidal basin while double pink flowering ‘Kanzan’ bloom mainly in East Potomac Park.

Big Bus Tour

Whatever time of year you visit a great way to get your bearings and see as many of the cities highlights as you can is to travel on one of the bus tours that loop its iconic landmarks. Headphones are provided so you can listen into their audio commentary, and I spent my first day in Washington hopping on and off buses. As well as the familiar Capitol building, Monument and Lincoln Memorial, I stopped to wander around the Floral Library, with its 93 flower beds. Tulips were just poking their way out of the ground when I was there but they continue to bloom throughout the summer with an array of annual bedding plants. Another stop, Constitution Gardens is a good spot for a picnic and a quiet little park with a pond that has a small island and platform honouring the signatories of the Declaration of independence.

US Botanic Garden

This historic garden is a welcome stop on a busy day seeing the sights. Opened in 1820 it’s the oldest public garden in the US and entry is free. When I visited in March, its outdoor gated gardens were closed but the domed Conservatory, with its collections of plants from across the US, the Tropics, the Mediterranean and beyond was holding an Orchid festival and the place was buzzing with visitors enjoying the thousands of orchids on display. I also took a short walk across Independence Avenue to the Bartholdi Fountain and garden, which has been part of the US Botanic garden campus since 1932. A two-acre garden it showcases sustainable landscaping and includes raised bed plantings, a rain garden and its dramatic centrepiece, a cast-iron fountain that’s well worth seeing at night, when it’s illuminated to become a fountain of light and water.

Dumbarton Oaks

A twenty-minute walk up the hill from Georgetown is the historic 10-acre estate of Dumbarton Oaks. Once a private home, then research institute, it’s now a museum, library and garden and a large public park. The gardens are well worth a quiet afternoon stroll, with cherry trees lining the pathways, herbaceous borders, a kitchen garden, rose garden, fountains and orangery. I had the gardens to myself and was lucky to spot a red cardinal hopping about its beautiful mosaic garden.

Washington National Cathedral and Gardens

The cathedral is the second-largest church building in the US and sits in 59 acres of grounds. I opted to take the 45 minute walk there from Georgetown past the amazing homes of Cathedral Heights, but it’s also just a short bus ride up the hill. As well as an oak and beech forest, Olmstead Woods, there’s the pretty Bishop’s Garden, which was inspired by mediaeval walled gardens and was bright with flowering shrubs and bulbs when I visited in Spring. Its Open City café also had delicious cake and smoothies.

Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens

Another historic estate worth a short taxi ride is Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens. Rebuilt in the 50s by wealthy businesswoman Marjorie Post (of Post cereal Company) its 13 acre gardens are set out as a series of rooms, at their peak in spring and autumn when Marjorie was in residence. As well as rose and Japanese gardens, a parterre and cutting garden there are greenhouses brimming with over 2000 orchids. The house, now a museum, is also well worth a look around. I watched an introductory film which set the scene perfectly and then wondered at the collections of decorative arts from the House of Romanov and 18th century France. My favourites though were the huge 1950s state-of-the-art kitchen, and her breakfast room, which with its indoor ‘garden of orchids’, must have been a beautiful way to start the day!

US National Arboretum

My last day in the capital was spent in northeast DC, just a couple of miles from the Capitol building at the US National Arboretum. A government research facility and free public garden, it was opened in 1959 and is almost 450 acres of tree filled parkland. As well as a number of impressive plant collections, including azalea, dogwood and magnolia, there’s a pretty National Herb Garden and the National Bonsai and Penjing museum, a mind-blowing collection of Japanese and Chinese horticultural art. It’s not a horticultural skill I think I’ll ever have the patience for but the trees were awe inspiring. One, a Japanese white pine survived the Hiroshima bombing and has been ‘in training’ since 1625.

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