Definitely

Spring.

This is a small part of one of my favourite trees in this area: a magnificent ornamental cherry that graces a stretch of Ferry Rd near Goldenacre. It reached peak flowering today, or will possibly tomorrow, after an incredibly rapid transition from bud to flower this week. This is part of the joy it imparts to the area: the sudden exuberance of its flowering, the wide-spread stretch of its branches out over the pavement to the street as if it were designed to seduce pedestrians into pausing beneath it; the brevity of its beauty.

Very Japanese.