Cherry Blossom Festival at Branch Brook Park 2022

A sure sign that spring has arrived in New Jersey is not the equinox. You can't count on watching for forsythias or daffodils blooming because that happens at different times in different places. But maybe you can count on the cherry blossoms at Branch Brook Park or the Festival. 

A few weeks after the blossoms open in D.C., the largest cherry blossom collection in the United States in our own Branch Brook Park usually opens. The park, which runs through Belleville and Newark, has more than 2,700 Japanese cherry blossom trees.

Things will be starting this weekend even though it has been a chilly week in this part of NJ. 

• The Cherry Blossom Challenge Bike Race is on April 2nd. No blossoms required. 7am – 1pm Oval, Northern Division
• Cherry Blossom 10K Run Sunday, April 3rd 10am – 12pm Cherry Blossom Welcome Center, Extension Division 
• 1-Mile Fun Run/Walk Saturday, April 9th 10am – 11am Concert Grove, Southern Division
• Hopefully, it will be warmer and more blooming for Family Day Saturday, April 9th 11am – 3pm Concert Grove, Southern Division 
• Bloomfest Sunday, April 10th 11am – 5pm Cherry Blossom Welcome Center, Extension Division and Concert Grove, Southern Division 
• There are Cherry Blossom Talks Every Wednesday in April at 11am at the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center, Extension Division and there are Historic Cell Phone Tours (973) 433-9047 Available ALL Season 

MORE INFORMATION

newarkhappening.com/cherry-blossom-festival/

essexcountyparks.org/parks/branch-brook-park/calendar/2022-essex-county-cherry-blossom-festival

The park with Sacred Heart Cathedral in the background

Amphibian Spring Crossings

Salamander crossing road - by inkoalseibua from Pixabay

Spring has arrived in New Jersey despite this week being quite chilly, windy. Our hibernating amphibians – the frogs, salamanders, and toads – are waiting for the warmer days and spring rains that signal to them to leave winter homes, come out and start mating.

Part of that spring ritual often includes crossing roadways and that is dangerous. It's not always a long journey. It might be a hundred yards. It might be further but crossing a busy roadway even a short distance might be life-threatening. It doesn't help that they are also not at full strength. Rainy, foggy nights and the darkness also help keep them hidden from predators like owls and raccoons.

On the first warm, rainy nights of spring amphibians start to move. From below ground come spotted salamanders, Jefferson salamanders, wood frogs and spring peepers. Where are they headed? To vernal pools.  

See a list of New Jersey’s amphibian species and
listen to recorded frog and toad calls state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/fieldguide_herps.htm

This movement can happen as early as February if we have a mild winter and some warm, rainy days and nights, but it can also be as late as April if the ground is still partly frozen or covered with snow. 

Volunteers and the staff from Conserve Wildlife Foundation have been acting as “amphibian crossing guards” at locations in Warren and Sussex counties. 

To learn more about the Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s
amphibian crossing program, go to
conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/amphibian_crossing/

Searching for amphibians crossing with kids and rescuing them from harm is a great activity and a chance to be a wildlife superhero. Here are a few guidebooks. Check in your local library too.