Seattle isn't really known as a city of flowers. Greenery-- robust evergreens, lush green foliage, leafy vines--are touted more highly on postcards and in travel brochures than Seattle's more colorful siblings, flowers.  Still, the city's constant drizzle through the winter months means earlier blooms in March and April--and none so conspicuous and beautiful as the  cherry tree and its white twin, the dogwood. Often confused one for the other, these trees' showers of blossoms overtake showers of rain in the Pacific Northwest springtime. 

A North American tree, the hearty and varied dogwood has found many uses throughout American and British history. Gaining the name "dogwood" in the 1600's, the 30-50 different species in the Cornaceae family have found a home in many different climates and types of soil. And people of all stripes were glad for its ubiquitousness: the popular and easily-grown plant was made reference to in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, its wood was used for mountain dulcimers (small-stringed instruments played with mallets) and golf club heads and thrived in the United States.

The variety we have the most of here in Seattle is the Pacific Dogwood, a tree with white bracts, which are more like leaves than petals. The Pacific Dogwood, perhaps not as hearty as other dogwood varieties, is susceptible to fungus and has often died in the wild. Our neighbor to the north, British Columbia, has adopted this tree as its official flower, giving it such honor that graduates of the British Columbia school district are awarded the "Dogwood Diploma" upon graduation.

Perhaps because British Columbia loves the dogwood so much, Seattleites flock to the dogwood's pinker twin, the cherry tree, instead. Known as sakura bana in Japanese, the tree is native to East Asia, including Japan, Korea and China. The United States' interest in this enticing tree is long and varied and includes Cherry Blossom Festivals (Seattle has its own Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival at the Seattle Center in early April each year) throughout the country. The tree has long represented a growing and re-strengthened friendship between Japan and the United States with Japan offering trees in great number to prominent American cities as symbols of goodwill.

In Seattle, the University of Washington quad is probably the most well-known place to see cherry trees in bloom. With a large number of trees shedding their petals in the spring wind and rain between the red brick liberal arts buildings,  tourists, Seattleites and students alike come to pose with relatives and friends amidst the branches of the trees. 

In 1999, the university feared that its famous trees may be no more as they neared the end of their natural life spans.  The trees that now line the sidewalks on the quad were taken during the construction of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge.  Cherry trees are supposed to live from 60 to 100 years, and as of 1999, the trees were estimated to be 50 to 60 years old.  However, the university had no solid data about the trees' ages, since the trees were moved from their original planted site. With the death of a few trees, architects and tree-lovers alike feared that the university may be without its cherry trees in a few short years.

However, in 2007, the trees’ longevity was preserved by taking a grafting from a current U-W tree and putting it onto rootstock at an Oregon nursery. Then, the sample is grown in a Mount Vernon, Washington nursery into a young tree.  This process ensures that the same tree—identical in its growing and blooming habits—will be planted on the campus and will flourish for years of Seattleites to enjoy.

Despite having similar appearances, the dogwood and the cherry tree have disparate histories and different relationships to Seattle.  Seattle’s gem, the cherry tree, seems fated to keep holding its own as the city’s favorite flowering plant.  We’ll give the dogwood, so plain in all white, to Vancouver. 

Sources and Further Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_(genus)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Dogwood

http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/mediarelations/cherry2007/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom

http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/march99/blooms1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2007_Sakura_of_Fukushima-e_007_rotated.jpg