In a message dated 2/25/00 10:42:24 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<<He's successfully predicted the time of peak bloom activity for the 3,000
Japanese cherry trees that line the Potomac River tidal basin for the past
nine years.>>

I spoke to Rob Defeo yesterday, and he says that if his prediction is off
this year, it will be because the blooms arrive even earlier than predicted.

<<The trees...are direct descendants of the Yoshino cherry trees given to the
U.S. government by the Japanese in 1912. They have become a major spring
tourist attraction.>>

Actually, only 150 of the orignial trees are still alive. As the trees die
off, they are replaced with commercial stock, except for last year when 500
clones of the original trees were planted.