Kairakuen Plum Blossoms

I'm not sure if I can even make it there, but I'd like to know if anyone knows about when the blossoms will be at their best? The festival ends at the end of March, but would March 28 for example be too late to actually see nice plum blossoms?

The following website has updates in Japanese:
http://www.koen.pref.ibaraki.jp/park/kairakuen01.html

From the looks of it this weekend and next weekend will be the best time... How long do they usually stay nice? Although I've seen plum blossoms in Kyoto I don't recall how long they actually stayed in bloom...

Do you think they'd still be worth going to see on the 24th/25th?

The latest official update (March 2) mentions the park to be at around 10% in total. japan-guide.com has a plum blossom report trip to Kairakuen planned for Thursday.

I am not familiar with the speed of process of plum blossoms, but I get the feeling that the coming weekend is still going to be relatively early in the season, and that the weekend afterwards (3/17 and 18) will be near the peak. It is just my feeling.