Here's when High Park cherry blossoms will reach peak bloom this year

The day we've all been waiting for is almost here! 

After weeks of slow and steady development, most of the cherry blossom buds in Toronto's High Park have moved into stage five, meaning we might see them bloom a bit earlier than originally anticipated, thanks to a stretch of mild and pleasant weather. 

Local cherry blossom expert, Sakura Steve, who tracks the trees every year and predicts their peak bloom date, posted a new update on his website, Sakura in High Park, on Thursday. 

"Once again, thanks to the warmer weather we've been having, the sakura cherry blossom trees throughout High Park are progressing into Stage 5. This stage is when you can distinctly see that each of the floret stems, known as peduncles, has visibly extended out of the buds," Steve wrote in his April 23 update. 

"You can also begin to see the florets showing bright pink and/or white tips. These tips are what the actual cherry blossom petals will be once they are ready to open." 

The trees on Cherry Hill appear to be the furthest along development-wise at the moment, with the Sports Field trees about a day or two behind. The trees along Grenadier Pond and the dock are also a few days behind, and those by the zoo and playground are still only in stages three to four. 

The weather will play a critical role in determining the exact blooming dates this year. Toronto is set to see a few back-to-back gloomy days this weekend, which could hinder the trees' progress. 

However, temperatures are expected to climb into the mid-teens next week, which, according to Steve, will "propel the cherry blossom buds to get back on track."

While the expert had originally predicted that the bloom could occur towards the very end of April and into early May, he now predicts that the first blossoms will begin to open this Monday. Based on this timeline, the "full bloom," or when trees reach at least 70 per cent of open blossoms, should begin around Tuesday, April 28. 

The "peak bloom," or when trees are at least 90 per cent open, is expected to start at the end of April and into the early May weekend, although this prediction depends largely on weather conditions over the next week or so. 

As of April 23, the High Park Nature Centre also notes that the trees are in stage four of the bloom development process, which occurs when the peduncles or flower stems begin extending and deep-pink individual blossoms can be clearly seen. 

Once in peak bloom and open, flowers last between four and 10 days, with cool and calm weather extending the bloom period and warm or unsettled weather shortening it. 

Over the past few years, peak bloom has varied quite a bit, occurring on May 3 in 2025, April 22 in 2024, April 20 in 2023, May 5 in 2022, April 22 in 2021, and May 2 in 2020.