“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.” –Martin Luther

Recently, myself and media colleague, Regine Algecera of Cable Star-Iloilo, witnessed the words of The Cascades, “live with the lonely leaf that clings to the bough,” from the song The Last Leaf, in the real sense, during the annual Sakura Matsuri festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) in Brooklyn, New York.
We arrived at the gardens in the morning, just before the official start of the cultural shows.
We nearly missed the festival when we were told there was no entry unless tickets were pre-purchased online for P30 each, however, we made it in after were told we could buy tickets on our mobile phones.

Peak
The festival featured more than 60 performances and activities that day, celebrating traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. It was the peak of cherry blossom season and the iconic flowers were spotted in the garden’s Prunus sargentii (Fudan-zakura) and Prunus subhirtella (Pendula) trees, mostly located in the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden and the Cherry Walk.
The flowers signal the beginning of hanami, the Japanese tradition of welcoming the season of spring.
Hanami unfolded BBG during the last week of March, as the blossoms of more than 200 flowering cherry trees scattered petals across the Cherry Esplanade, the Cherry Walk, and the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden.

Diverse
The BBG collection was the most diverse among American botanic gardens, consisting of more than 20 varieties.
Throughout April and May, visitors can enjoy the gardens with daily highlight tours and observe other celebrated Japanese horticultural collections, including the iconic Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden and the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum, which houses the Garden’s extensive bonsai collection, one of the finest in the world.
We entered before noon and came out after 6:00 p.m., the festival’s final hour. Our photos show it was truly an exhilarating experience./WDJ