In addition to the wonderful Yoshino Cherry Blossoms that I posted photos of the other day, I’ve had the chance to photograph some beautiful cherry blossoms in shades of pink. This year, the Yoshino Blossoms were very white (some years they are more pink) so any pink blossoms really stand out against all the white.

The first set of pink cherry blossoms I photographed were on an Okame Flowering Cherry Tree at the National Arboreatum. This is a very early flowering type of cherry – the tree was in full bloom about a week before the Yoshinos were blooming at the Tidal Basin.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I love the contrast of the deep magenta centers of the flowers against the lovely pink petals.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

The next cherry tree I photographed was a First Lady Flowering Cherry Tree at McCrillis Gardens in Bethesda. I just adore the wonderful color of the blossoms on this tree.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And finally, what may be the prettiest cherry blossoms I’ve photographed this year – some beautiful pale pink and white blossoms. I photographed these blossoms on one of the trees at the Tidal Basin. So far I haven’t been able to identify what variety of tree this is. Does anyone recognize which blossoms these are?

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I hope you’ve enjoyed my 2010 Cherry Blossom photos. For those of us living in the DC area, cherry blossoms really signal the beginning of spring.