Ume plum blossom in Shukkeien Garden, Hiroshima

Shukkeien Garden’s ume plum blossoms are pretty in pink, yellow, and white, especially if you can catch them on a sunny day.

Shukkei-en Garden‘s ume plum grove has 136 plum trees of 19 varieties, all of which have their own colors and characteristics.

Some of their earlier blossoms come into bloom around mid-February and different varieties blossom at different times until early to mid-March. Pretty precursors to the sakura cherry blossoms, they bring some welcome color to the final weeks of winter.

While the cherry blossoms bring out a national urge to pull out the blue vinyl sheets and picnic under the trees, ume blossoms tend be enjoyed from a slight distance, viewed from a bench.

If you can time your visit with a sunny day, the ume grove is gorgeous. The contrast of the flowers against the backdrop of the deep green of the garden’s pine trees and clear blue sky is very dramatic. As the weather warms up, you will also see distinctive mejiro “white eye” birds flitting among the branches.

The garden’s annual ume blossom tea ceremony is held in mid-February and the momo peach blossom viewing tea ceremony is in mid-March.