Plum blossoms sweetening the air

As I wrote in my previous post, it was a really good year for wintersweet this year. Will it be a good year for plum blossoms too? I hope so. And so far, it looks good. 

In recent years the plum blossoms have overlapped with the kawazu cherry blossoms in Saitama Prefecture, because the Kawazu cherry blossoms have been early to bloom the last few years. But thanks to quite a bit of cold weather, the Kawazu are later this year. That is, later than the last few years, but they will actually bloom (all things equal) more like historic averages. 

When the Kawazuzakura and plum blossoms bloom at the same time, I tend to prioritize the Kawazuzakura. With the result in the last five years I have only been to a few plum blossom groves during the season. This year I will be able to enjoy both blossoms to their fullest, for the first time since 2019. I have already been on a few plum blossom adventures (above photo from one earlier this week), but there will be more this week as the plum blossoms come into prime season. 

One of the reasons I prioritized Kawazuzakura over plum blossoms, in recent years, is because I had the great pleasure of living near a famous plum blossom grove in the past. So I have loads of photos of plum blossoms from over the years. Moreover, I have a mature plum blossom in my own garden. So I have been blessed with the sweet aroma of plum blossoms in bloom for much of my life in Japan.

Do you like the smell of plum blossoms?