Ume blooming

In the Koishikawa Botanical Garden, the ume flower has started blooming.
The ume flower looks similar to the sakura, but the fragrance is slightly stronger.It has a sweet and elegant scent.

The ume tree became popular as a garden tree among nobles in the Nara period. Since then, many varieties of ume have been created.

When I visited, I noticed that each ume tree in the garden had a card with its name. Those names are classical and tasteful. Some I found interesting were,"酔月" (intoxicated with the moon), "楊貴妃" (the name of Chinese imperial consort Yang Guifei), and "思いの儘" (follow your heart).