While most people crowd around the Tidal Basin, head to the U.S. National Arboretum for a more serene experience. Admission to the 446-acre park is free and includes natural wonders both large and small: the Grove of State Trees, nesting bald eagles, and centuries-old specimens at the National Bonsai Museum. Lesser-known are the 70 varieties of cherry trees that blossom here annually; visitors can locate the blooms using a free, self-guided tour available on the Arboretum’s mobile app.

Predictions of exactly when the trees will hit their peak depends on a variety of factors, but visitors can periodically check the BBG website’s interactive Cherrywatch, which indicates the bloom status of each individual tree. Different varieties bloom at different times, so no matter when you visit you can expect to be wowed by the allée of ornamental Kanzan trees (with bright pink pom-pom-like clusters) or cascading blooms of the weeping cherries circling the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden.

The Missouri Botanical Garden—the nation’s oldest botanical garden in continual operation—was founded in 1859. The 79 acres are home to more than 230 flowering trees, including ornamental cherries, peaches, plums, and apricots. Dozens of weeping cherries can be found in the 14-acre Japanese strolling garden, alongside other varieties that burst into fragrant pink and white blooms at the end of March into early April.

Opened in Balboa Park in 1991 as “an expression of friendship between San Diego and its [Japanese] sister city, Yokohama,” Southern California’s Japanese Friendship Garden celebrates the tradition of hanami with a 3-day festival in early March. Visitors can enjoy food vendors, a beer and sake garden, and live performances while contemplating the fleeting beauty of life underneath the garden’s grove of 200 flowering cherry trees.

Founded in Durham, North Carolina, in the early 1930s by Duke Medical School faculty member Dr. Frederic M. Hanes (with financial assistance from Sarah P. Duke, widow of one of the university’s founders), this 55-acre living museum is home to thousands of native plants, a sustainable organic garden, and 60,000 tulips. Sarah P. Duke Gardens, located on university grounds, also has an impressive collection of flowering cherries spread throughout the property.

For a jump on cherry blossom season, head to an unlikely place: southeast Florida. Open since 1977, the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens “strives to spread appreciation for the living culture of Japan,” with tea ceremonies, rotating exhibits, and local educational outreach programs. The garden’s collection of flowering Taiwan cherry trees thrive in warmer regions such as ​​Okinawa and usually bloom in early February.