Kanzan Cherry Blossoms - May 2021

2021 marks the second year in a row that we are being treated to some pink peony-like Cherry Blossoms on our Japanese Kwanzan Flowering Cherry Tree (or...as the Missouri Botanical Garden points out...it is also called the "Kanzan" vs. "Kwanzan".  I'm thinking I'm going to start calling this a Kanzan from here out...) in our backyard.  Our tree was bought from Menards after my first trip to Tokyo in 2017 and we planted it right around Earth Day that year.  It was blooming when I bought it.   This was the first Japanese-inspired piece of our garden puzzle - that have been subsequently complemented with the Japanese Maple tree, ferns and some grasses.  

So...let me do a list here:

2017: Bloomed (when purchased) in mid-May.
2018: Bloomed that first Spring after being planted in mid-May.

2019: No blooms.  Looked like it wanted to in mid-May.  

2020:  Bloomed (during the pandemic) in early May.

2021:  Bloomed in late April (photos in this post were taken on April 28, 2021)

Here's a look at one of our blooms close-up (below) and I stand by my take that these remind me of peonies. 

One thing that I am going to try to remember is to treat THIS tree with a systemic insecticide - at the same time that I'm going to try to treat the Aphid problem on the Greenspire Linden trees.