It is thought that Omuro-zakura (御室桜) originated in Heian times.
The current cherry trees were planted in the early Edo period (江戸時代), shortly after Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光 1604-51) helped rebuild the temple.

Reaching their peak (typically) around mid-April, the temple's groves of cherry trees are the last to bloom within the city.
Known as 'Omuro-zakura' (御室桜), Ninna-ji's trees are uniquely stunted, growing to only around 2m tall. They are a variant of 'sato-zakura' (郷さくら).