Best Nature in Washington, D.C.

The best of the Best of Nature in DC is not the Japanese flowering Cherry trees at the Tidal Basin. For one thing, the Cherry blossoms are best seen against a blue sky. We lived in DC for 20 years, and only saw the Cherry blossoms against a blue sky 4 times. Clouds are white. Most of the Cherry blossoms are white. White on white does not impress. The #1 display of nature in DC is Azalea (and Rhododendron) season, roughly the middle of May. Small plantings of Azaleas are all over the place in downtown DC, but the best display are found in a number of specialized Azalea gardens: the National Arboretum; McCrillis Garden in Montgomery County, MD; the Montgomery Co. garden in northern Silver Spring; the grounds of a private school in the Montgomery County, MD, suburbs.

The Azaleas are the best of the best. For the rest of DC Nature, in no particular order:

• The Great Falls of the Potomac River
• The view from the front porch of George Washington's Mt Vernon
• The Bonsai tree collection at the National Arboretum
• The rest of the National Arboretum after you see the Azalea garden and the Bonsai
• The fall foliage in Rock Creek Park (DC and nearby MD).
• The Mall, from the foot of Capitol Hill to the Potomac River was a fetid pestilential swamp until it was drained and elevated.
  
  

A D.C. Bonsai