ACNH Cherry Blossom Season: Dates, Trees, Petals, and DIY
Cherry blossom season in Animal Crossing: New Horizons runs from April 1–10 on Northern Hemisphere islands and October 1–10 on Southern Hemisphere islands. During this window, hardwood trees turn pink, catchable petals float through the air, and seasonal DIY recipes become available. Here’s how to get the right trees, collect the recipes and materials, and keep crafting after the blossoms disappear.
How Cherry Blossom Trees Work
Cherry blossom trees are ordinary hardwood trees wearing their seasonal foliage, not a separate tree species you need to unlock or grow.
During the season, fully grown hardwood trees turn pink automatically.
If your island has no hardwood trees left, plant some and give them enough clear space to mature. They do not need watering, and there is no special cherry blossom fertilizer, seed, or planting technique.
These trees do not become cherry blossom trees:
- Fruit trees, including cherry trees. A tree that grows cherries is different from a cherry blossom tree.
- Fruit trees you have harvested. Removing the fruit does not change the tree’s type.
- Cedar trees, palm trees, or bamboo.
The season follows your island’s hemisphere and in-game date, not your physical location. A player can have an island that follows Southern Hemisphere seasons.
How to Collect Cherry Blossom Petals and DIY Recipes
Use the hemisphere selected when your island was created to choose your collection window.
| Your Island’s Hemisphere | Cherry Blossom Collection Window |
|---|---|
| Northern Hemisphere | April 1–10 each year |
| Southern Hemisphere | October 1–10 each year |
Step 1: Get Your Island Ready
- Check the in-game date. Your island needs to be within its hemisphere’s seasonal window.
- Check your trees for pink foliage. If only fruit trees and cedars remain, you will not get the pink tree canopy.
- Carry a net and slingshot. The net collects petals; the slingshot brings down balloon presents containing possible recipes.
- Leave room in your pockets. You need space for petals, presents, and DIY recipe cards.
You do not need a special event invitation or a conversation with an NPC to make the trees bloom. The seasonal appearance changes automatically.
Step 2: Catch Floating Petals With Your Net
- Walk around outdoors and look for an individual pink petal drifting through the air.
- Equip your net and approach within catching distance.
- Face the petal and swing, just as you would when catching a bug.
- Check that the petal entered your pockets, then continue looking for more.
The catchable petals are more distinct than the tiny decorative blossoms blowing across the screen. Not every bit of pink scenery is an item you can collect.
Petals drift as you approach, so aim for their current position rather than where you first spotted them. If a petal disappears, move on to another instead of repeatedly swinging at the same spot.
Shaking a tree does not produce cherry-blossom petals. You also cannot collect the decorative petals from the ground. The crafting material comes from catching the floating petals.
Step 3: Collect and Learn Seasonal DIY Recipes
- Listen to Isabelle’s announcements. During cherry blossom season, she can send the outdoor picnic set recipe to your NookPhone if you have not learned it. Do not assume that announcement must happen on your first login.
- Find the incoming balloon coast. Watch a balloon’s movement to identify which side of the island it enters from, then patrol that shoreline.
- Recheck the direction in the evening. The balloon wind direction reverses around 6 p.m., so your productive beach may change.
- Shoot ordinary balloon presents over clear land. Avoid dropping gifts into water or an area with no available landing space.
- Open the presents and learn any new recipes. Select a DIY card in your pockets and choose to learn it; keep duplicate cards available for trading.
Balloon rewards are random. Balloon color does not identify a cherry blossom DIY.
Your regular home-island beach bottles and villagers crafting inside their homes are not sources of this seasonal recipe pool. Hunting cherry blossom balloons is the main way to find seasonal DIY recipes.
Step 4: Craft Your Items and Store Extra Petals
- Collect 95 cherry-blossom petals to craft one of every recipe in the collection. Gather extra if you want repeated decorations, such as matching lanterns along a path.
- Learn the recipe you want to make and bring its ingredients to a DIY workbench.
- Select the recipe and craft the item.
- Place the finished item or put it in storage, then store your unused petals.
Petals do not expire when the season ends. Once you have learned a recipe, you can craft it at any time of year as long as you have the materials.
If your time is limited, prioritize catching petals and finding recipes over finishing every build. Crafting can wait; the natural collection window cannot.
Cherry Blossom DIY Recipes and Materials
Use this checklist to track all 15 cherry blossom DIY recipes. It includes the rug, accessories, wand, and sakura-wood recipes, not only the furniture pieces.
| DIY Recipe | Cherry-Blossom Petals | Other Materials |
|---|---|---|
| ☐ Blossom-viewing lantern | 6 | 4 hardwood |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom bonsai | 6 | 2 hardwood, 3 clumps of weeds, 3 clay |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom branches | 8 | 4 tree branches, 5 clay |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom clock | 5 | 1 iron nugget |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom flooring | 10 | 20 clumps of weeds |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom-petal pile | 5 | None |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom pochette | 6 | None |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom pond stone | 3 | 10 stone |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom rug | 6 | None |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom-trees wall | 10 | 5 hardwood |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom umbrella | 7 | None |
| ☐ Cherry-blossom wand | 3 | 3 star fragments |
| ☐ Outdoor picnic set | 10 | None |
| ☐ Sakura-wood flooring | 5 | 10 wood |
| ☐ Sakura-wood wall | 5 | 10 wood |
Pay attention to the different wood materials. Wood, hardwood, and tree branches are separate ingredients; having plenty of one does not cover a recipe that requires another.
Also distinguish the two flooring recipes. Cherry-blossom flooring uses petals and weeds, while sakura-wood flooring uses petals and wood. They are separate unlocks, not variations of the same recipe.
What to Do If Cherry Blossom Season Has Ended
Missing the seasonal window does not erase your recipes, materials, or finished items. Your next move depends on whether you need petals, an unlearned recipe, or simply a finished decoration.
Use Stored Materials or Trade
If you already learned the recipe, take your stored petals and other ingredients to a workbench and craft normally.
If you lack the recipe, ask another player for a spare DIY card. Learn the card before crafting. Alternatively, ask someone who knows the recipe to make the item for you and provide the required materials.
Receiving a finished item does not teach you its recipe. Trading for an item solves a decorating need; trading for a DIY card helps complete your recipe collection.
Visit an Island Where Blossoms Are Available
A friend whose island is currently in cherry blossom season can let you visit and catch petals. They can also share spare recipe cards or craft items you are missing.
Kapp’n’s boat tours offer another possibility. If he takes you to the special cherry blossom island:
- Catch floating petals with your net.
- Find and collect the message bottle on the beach.
- Open it and learn the recipe if it is new to you.
- Speak to Kapp’n to return home with your materials and recipe.
The message bottle on Kapp’n’s cherry blossom island is a seasonal recipe source. This is the important exception to the home-island bottle rule.
You cannot choose that tour destination, and seasonal destinations have eligibility restrictions. Treat it as a useful opportunity when it appears, not a dependable way to obtain a particular missing recipe.
Wait for the Next Season
The event returns annually on the same hemisphere-based dates. Waiting is the simplest option if you do not want to alter your console clock or arrange trades.
Keep your learned recipes and stored petals, and retain the trees you already have if you want the pink scenery when the season returns. You do not need to replace those trees each year.
Return to the Season With Time Travel
Changing the date can reopen cherry blossom season, but it cannot guarantee a cherry blossom recipe from a balloon.
If you choose to time travel, finish any turnip business first. Moving the clock backward or beyond the turnips’ selling window can spoil them.
- Sell any turnips you want to protect, then save and close Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
- Change the date and time on your Nintendo Switch.
- Turn off internet clock synchronization.
- With internet clock synchronization off, set your Nintendo Switch date within April 1–10 for a Northern Hemisphere island or October 1–10 for a Southern Hemisphere island.
- Launch the game and confirm that pink foliage and floating petals are available.
- Collect materials and hunt ordinary balloons, then save and close the game when finished.
- Restore the actual date and time, and turn internet clock synchronization back on if you normally use it.
Returning to the seasonal date restores access to the seasonal conditions.
Check Your Cherry Blossom Collection Before Moving On
Track learned recipes, available materials, and finished items separately. They represent different kinds of progress.
Before you stop collecting, check the following:
- Duplicates are not counted as new unlocks. Keep them separate from cards you still need to learn.
- Gifted items are not mistaken for learned recipes. Owning a bonsai does not necessarily mean you can craft another.
- Your petal supply matches your decorating plans. A collection target covers individual recipes, not a whole island of repeated lanterns or petal piles.
- Nonseasonal ingredients are available. Missing clay, stone, wood, or star fragments can prevent crafting even when you have enough petals.
Compare your learned recipes with the 15-recipe cherry blossom DIY checklist. Make a short list of missing DIY names before your next balloon hunt or trade so you can focus on the gaps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Keep Cherry Blossom Trees All Year?
No, not while the calendar progresses normally. Hardwood trees lose their pink seasonal appearance when cherry blossom season ends, and moving them or carrying them in your pockets does not preserve that appearance. Crafted cherry blossom decorations keep their design year-round.
Can You Have Cherry Blossom and Fall Trees at the Same Time?
Not as natural seasonal foliage on a normally progressing island. Cherry blossoms and autumn foliage belong to different seasonal windows, and a transplanted tree follows the destination island’s season rather than preserving its original appearance. You can, however, combine cherry blossom furniture with autumn-themed decorations.
Why Are Bunny Day Balloons Appearing During Cherry Blossom Season?
Bunny Day preparations can overlap cherry blossom season on Northern Hemisphere islands. Rainbow-striped Bunny Day balloons carry Bunny Day rewards rather than cherry blossom DIY recipes. Target ordinary balloon presents when you are hunting the blossom collection.
Do you need to grow a special sakura tree in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
No, you do not need to cultivate a separate sakura tree. Hardwood trees become cherry blossom trees during the seasonal period, and the blossoms appear on fruitless trees rather than fruit-bearing ones.
Are cherry-blossom petals rare in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
Cherry-blossom petals are not considered particularly common or rare. They appear at random times and locations during the limited blossom period, so catch them whenever you spot them.
When does cherry blossom season start in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
Cherry blossom season starts on April 1 on Northern Hemisphere islands and October 1 on Southern Hemisphere islands. It ends on April 10 in the Northern Hemisphere and October 10 in the Southern Hemisphere.
