Hello, petal: celebrating cherry blossom time

Beautiful and brief, cherry blossom season is one of the highlights of the gardening year. Jane Perrone advises on where to see it, while experts share their tips on growing your own

As we trudge up out of the darkness and chill of winter, the sudden eruption of a haze of pink and white petals, buzzing with bees, heralds spring like nothing else. Breathtaking in its beauty but bittersweet in its brevity, cherry blossom is an annual treat for the senses.

Nowhere is cherry blossom more revered than in Japan, where sakura, as it is known there, is a symbol of the transience of life. Or, as garden designer Sophie Walker puts it more bluntly, death. Walker, who is writing a book about Japanese gardens, explains: "The whole point of blossom is that it is fragile, that it is susceptible to death. The Buddhist challenge is to come to terms with the inevitability of one's own death."