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Kwanzan Cherry I I painted the delicate ruffled pink flowers in wet-on-wet watercolor. For contrast, I focused on the dramatic bronze-green leaves and bright red buds, painting these in detail after the paper was dry. Even though we had little money growing up, my family took a weeklong automobile trip each summer that almost always involved nature and beautiful scenery. One of our furthest trips was to Virginia and Washington, D.C. Mom and Dad had few regrets, but one was that their vacations never coincided with the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. The last time they visited us before Dad's death, they got to see it and were so impressed. I too love the dramatic Kwanzan Cherry so much that I bought one for my yard and eventually painted it in full bloom. The Kwanzan cherry, Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan', has double pink flowers and a vase-shaped form with a rounded crown that spreads with age, making the tree wider than it is tall at maturity. A fruitless cultivar, Kwanzans are grafted onto Prunus avium stock or grown from cuttings. Named after a mountain in Japan, the Kwanzan is native to China, Japan, and Korea. Introduced to America in 1903, its dramatic floral displays were made famous by the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. The original watercolor is in a private collection but limited edition prints and note cards are available. Click here for availability and price