![]() ![]() He created the Plant-Introduction Section of the Department of Agriculture in 1898 and, for the next 37 years, traveled the world in search of plants that could benefit Americans. Edwin Grosvenor Collectionįew people have impacted as many lives as did David Fairchild. Photos by Edwin Grosvenorīotanist and plant explorer David Fairchild. With a diameter of nearly five feet, it still produces flowers each spring. The oldest cherry tree in Washington, and perhaps in the United States, is a 117-year-old Yoshino planted by David Fairchild in 1906, probably from a batch imported from Yokohama. The 117-year-old tree still valiantly produces a leaning tower of delicate, pink blossoms pushing up from its gnarled and corky trunk.ĭavid Fairchild, the most renowned American plant explorer of his time, planted this cherry tree with great fanfare in 1906 as an experiment, to learn if the beautiful Yoshino cherries he had seen in Japan could grow in the U.S., as well. ![]() ![]() One hidden clue is an elderly cherry tree growing in the playground of a nursery school in Chevy Chase, Maryland on the former property of botanist David Fairchild. Yoshino cherry trees line the Tidal Basin in the nation's capital. Kurt Miller, Flickr In fact, the full story of the three visionaries who made it happen is rarely told. This spring, one of the most delightful signs of rebirth after a deadly pandemic and the dreary months of winter will be the blossoming of hundreds of cherry trees along the Tidal Basin, which typically brings an estimated 1.5 million visitors to the nation’s capital.īut few visitors know how those trees first came to our country and started a nationwide trend. ![]()
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