MACON, Ga. — The signs have sprouted around town. You can get cherry blossoms painted on your car starting on Saturday.
Stores are decked out in pink and everyone waiting for the star of March to make an appearance. It's almost time for the Cherry Blossom Festival.
You might call Marisa Rodgers a pink promoter.
“It picks up as we get closer to the event but it's hundreds and hundreds of calls," she said.
Rodgers is with Visit Macon and at this time of the year, the million-dollar question is: will there be see cherry blossoms for the festival?
“There's a lot of misinformation out there where people are saying they're already blooming but no. The town is getting pink and ready but the cherry blossoms have not happened yet,” she said.
It's easy to get confused. You will see pink Japanese Magnolias around town but they are not the iconic pink tree.
Timothy Rozier runs Johnson's nursery.
“They get them confused a lot. They think these are the cherry blossom trees but they’re not,” he said.
Technically, they do sell cherry trees that as you can see do bloom right now. The Okame cherry variety does flower in February.
“They're more darker pink than the regular Yoshino cherry tree, the regular Yoshino has a more white color to it,” he said.
March 23 is the date folks hope these trees will bloom in Third Street Park. Cherry blossom trees, just like peach trees, need chill hours and the younger the tree the earlier it will bloom.
Just like peaches, Mother Nature can ruin the whole thing before the cherry blossom buds get to shine.
“A cold snap can come along and knock the blooms off before the festival starts,” Rozier said.
It would put a blemish on the festival but whether the petals corporate or not you can bank on the pinkest party on earth trees or no trees.