'Yaezakura', a birthday flower of April 11th

Yaezakura (八重桜) is a type of cherry blossom that doesn't have an easy, quick one- or two-word English equivalent. It is a late blooming, double flowered cherry blossom. And it is season right now in the Kanto plain (Greater Tokyo area). They typically bloom around mid to late April and until early May in some places.

Yaezakura are lush, many petaled cherry blossom that arrive after the main, most revered, somei yoshino cherry blossom variety. Yaezakura are my personal favorite type of cherry blossom, because we had a yaezakura in our garden when I was a child. I love how they remind me of home as well as their fullness and vivid shades. 

In the Japanese language of flowers, known as hanakotoba, yaezakura carry the same meanings as "satozakura", which are "rich education", "good upbringing" and "modesty". These phrases reflect the flower’s cultivated elegance: blossoms shaped by human hands over generations, yet still retaining a quiet, grounded charm.

Yaezakura are one of at least two birthday flowers of April 11th. They are also the birthday flower of May 9th. There are also dates when "cherry blossoms" in general are the birthday flower. Those dates are April 1st, April 9th and April 21st. Are you lucky enough to have yaezakura as one of your birthday flowers?