Emily Kwong

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

Hey, everyone.

Emily Kwong here with someone very special to our team, shortwave intern Aru Nair.

Hey, Emily.

What's up?

You and I are at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., and it's your first time living in the district.

You can't escape it.

This time of year, the cherry blossom marketing is everywhere.

But originally, these blossoms came from trees gifted by Japan in 1912.

And now they turn the city into this like soft pink wonderland.

Yeah, there's so many trees in bloom right now.

It does feel like Pennsylvania has Groundhog Day and we have this.

Like this is D.C.

's homegrown sign of spring.

Right.

Okay, so when 70% of the Yoshino cherry trees are in bloom, that is peak bloom.

You're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

OK, short wavers, once again, we are on our monthly nature quest brought to you by someone who's paying attention to how their local environment is changing.

And this month, that person is shortwave intern Aru Nair.

So what goes into a cherry tree bloom, Aru?