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Yesterday’s news – 2024 International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition

The peak bloom date for Vancouver’s location in the 2024 International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition was March 23.

International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition

Submissions are in from the international prediction competition, “When will the cherry trees bloom in 2024?”. The predicted date for ‘Akebono’ trees studied from Vancouver (Maple Grove Park in Kerrisdale) is April 3, just four days earlier than last year’s peak bloom. You can read about the predictions at https://competition.statistics.gmu.edu/.

The competition organizers provided all the publicly available data they could find on the bloom date of cherry trees. Competitors used this data, in combination with any other publicly available data, to create reproducible predictions of the bloom dates at five locations around the globe.

The organizers are hoping to help scientists better understand the impacts of climate change.

You can find the photos of the 2023 blooming development at https://vcbf.ca/2023/04/09/yesterdays-news-2023-international-cherry-blossom-prediction-competition/. We are using the same trees as last year.

2024 photos from the Vancouver location

Here are the first photos from 2024, taken March 10. The development here is similar to what was photographed last year on March 21. The group in the third photo are a little ahead of all the others. Photos are by Wendy Cutler.

Photos below were taken at 6:30pm PDT on March 15. The daytime highs were around 7 C degrees, until the last two days when they reached 10 degrees. Almost all buds have emerged from their bud scales, and some pedicels are visible, to .5 cm.

March 17, photos taken at 1:30pm. We are into the fourth sunny day with temperatures around 15 C degrees. We are ignoring the young fourth tree here. The three old trees are progressing at a different rate. It’s hard to see progress on the middle tree; the other two have blossoms lightening in colour, slightly enlarged, with most pedicels noticeable. The last four photos are of the most advanced tree, the one closest to the main road.

March 19, photos taken at 3:30pm. It was sunny all day, and the high temperature was 12 C degrees. The trees showed a marked advancement in blooming from two days ago, but they still show a difference in progress from each other. Most buds have swelled in size and lightened up in colour. All trees have some open flowers; one tree has areas with many open flowers; one has only a few open flowers on its south side; and one is intermediate between those two. The first group of photos were taken from the north, east and west.

March 21. This is not yet peak bloom, but these trees are now showy and are worth a visit if you’re near the area. They are showiest from a distance, but from close up, you can see how many more buds are still to open. After the first row showing the set from different directions, each row presents a single tree.

March 22. The morning was partly sunny, afternoon was partly drippy, high was 10.8 C degrees. No opinion on peak bloom is being given yet; we will post photos until we are sure these have passed the point of peak bloom, and leave it to Douglas Justice to make the declaration. The three trees are shown with blossoms on that tree; the group photo is shown last.

March 23. Today was rainy, high again of 10.8 C degrees. Photos here are by Shirley Willard. The format is the same: tree followed by its blossoms.

20240323-MapleGrovePk-Akebono123-Willard-

March 24. This bright sunny day reached a high of 13 C degrees, but it seemed warmer. The beach areas were summer-crowded. Our trees were sporting their best spring finery. Photos are by Wendy Cutler.

Akebono_MapleGrovePark_Cutler_20240324_P1390467
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Accolade’

March 19, 2024. We are still doing pink, but here are flowers with more than five petals. ‘Accolade’ flowers are described as semi-double. These are now in bloom locally everywhere. This photo was sent to us by Eagle Chiang, a fellow photographer checking out the trees on 5th and Nootka. We like to quote Kobayashi Issa, who lived from 1763-1827: “there is no stranger under the cherry tree…”

Accolade_5thNootka_EagleChiang_20240318_IMG_7660
Accolade_5thNootka_EagleChiang_20240318_IMG_7660
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Beni-shidare’

March 17, 2024. The third of what is turning out to be a series of single pink blossoms is ‘Beni-shidare’. You won’t confuse these cascades of pink blossoms with ‘Whitcomb’ or ‘Okame’, which trees have a more upright shape. It also should be at least a few weeks later than the previous two.

Beni-shidare_AlexandraPark_Cutler_20240314_150321
Beni-shidare_AlexandraPark_Cutler_20240314_150321
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Okame’

March 9, 2024. ‘Okame’ cherries, which were also hard-hit by the January freeze here, are doing well in the cooler neighbourhoods where the buds were not out yet in January. They are, however, not commonly planted here. This photo is from Gibsons, on the Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver, a short ferry ride away.

20240306 GaleAveN Okame Willard IMG_8025
20240306 GaleAveN Okame Willard IMG_8025
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Cherry Scouts Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Yesterday’s News – ‘Whitcomb’

March 6, 2024. Even though most of the earliest to bloom ‘Whitcomb’ cherry trees were hard hit by the January freeze, there were some nice-looking blossoms, sparsely distributed on most of the trees. Here is a recent photo from Richmond.

20240304 Hazlebridge Alexandra Whitcomb Willard IMG_7963
20240304 Hazlebridge Alexandra Whitcomb Willard IMG_7963
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Shiro-fugen’

May 13, 2023. The most interesting, most magical, longest in bloom cherry tree around right now is ‘Shiro-fugen’. These opened with white flowers and bronze leaves. Many still had white flowers when the leaves started to turn green. Then the flowers started to turn luminescent pink from the centres. Eventually, the trees are becoming ‘Kanzan’-coloured pink, with green or bronzy-green leaves. Yet new flowers keep opening, white, so it’s easy to see them when you’re looking closely at the flowers. From close-up, the ‘Shiro-fugen’ flowers won’t look as withered as soon. Thanks to Shirley Willard, Taka Naidu, Anne Eng, Yong Hui, Lisa Lennie, May Lin and Wendy Cutler for the photos.

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Photos Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Yesterday’s news – double pink ‘Kanzan’, ‘Royal Burgundy’ and ‘Kiku-zakura’

May 7, 2023. After such a grey April, who wasn’t excited to see Vancouver city streets colouring up with over 10,000 ‘Kanzan’ cherries, big double pink blossoms forming archways over so many of our streets?! There are many more in the surrounding neighbourhoods as well.

Kanzan_ Fraser Hwy204St_ maylin_20230428_IMG_2787
Kanzan_ Fraser Hwy204St_ maylin_20230428_IMG_2787

Here is a new kid on the block – as yet there are very few of these ‘Royal Burgundy’ trees. They are all youngsters, so we’re not too sure how large they get. The flowers seem identical to those of ‘Kanzan’, but the leaves are dark burgundy.

20230430_RoyalBurgundy_VanDusenCherryGrove_Eng_8031
20230430_RoyalBurgundy_VanDusenCherryGrove_Eng_8031

Here is a cultivar planted on city streets as ‘Kanzan’, but it’s ‘Kiku-zakura’, a chrysanthemum-flowered cherry with as many as 100 petals, yet smaller flowers than ‘Kanzan’. And what beautiful, complex little marvels they are. They open pink, fade to white, but second-story flowers develop in the blossom centres, so there is usually a mix of colours on any one tree and any one flower.

20230504_Kiku-zakura_WilliamLakewood_Eng_8175
20230504_Kiku-zakura_WilliamLakewood_Eng_8175
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Photos Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Yesterday’s news – ‘Shiro-fugen’ and ‘Ichiyo’

May 3, 2023. It’s almost all fluffy double blossoms from here on out. Here are two that are not all that rare. These are easily distinguished when the flowers are opening, but after their full bloom, distinguishing them can be difficult.

‘Shiro-fugen’, with its sturdy outstretched limbs and flat top is further distinguished by its overall dusky colouring up until the flowers have passed their peak of white-ness. The leaves are brown, buds are brownish pink, and the flowers open pure white. Next, after the flowers have been open for several days, the leaves will turn green. After that, the flowers will turn neon-pink starting from the centres. There will still be new flowers for a few weeks, and many of the old flowers will hang on, making this a tree of interest for a whole month, with a mix of flower colours.

202300430_Shirofugen_OakW43_Eng_8047
202300430_Shirofugen_OakW43_Eng_8047

In contrast to the above trees, ‘Ichiyo’ trees have a fresher appearance due to the almost green leaves when the flowers are opening. And there is more pink in the newly opened flowers. The limbs are more upright, giving the trees a rounder shape. These flowers age to almost white, while ‘Shiro-fugen’ flowers age to pink. The trick when you come across one of these is knowing in which direction the colouring is developing.

20230429_Ichiyo_FraserE54_Eng_8008
20230429_Ichiyo_FraserE54_Eng_8008

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Photos Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Yesterday’s news – double white ‘Ichihara-tora-no-o’ and ‘Shogetsu’

April 30, 2023. The festival has officially ended, but one month is far too short for showing off our beautiful blossoms. As long as the Cherry Scouts keep posting them, we’ll feature them here.

The whole area has just gone pink with ‘Kanzan’ cherries, but there are still rare gems showing off. Here are two with double white blossoms.

‘Ichihara-tora-no-o’, the tiger tail from Ichihara, the fanciful name referencing the way the flowers and leaves drape along the limbs.

20230426_Icihara-tora-no-o_E57Fraser_Eng_7925
20230426_Icihara-tora-no-o_E57Fraser_Eng_7925

If there could be said to be opposites, ‘Shogetsu’ might be it – instead of slithering along the limbs and branches, this cultivar’s flowers dangle from long stems, leading to its name meaning “moonlight through pine trees”.

20230426 PantagesCardero Shogetsu Willard  IMG_3286
20230426 PantagesCardero Shogetsu Willard IMG_3286
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Photos Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Yesterday’s news – rare single whites – ‘Mikuruma-gaeshi’ and ‘Ojochin’

April 25, 2023. Here are two rare large single blossoms, both sometimes carrying some extra petals. ‘Mikuruma-gaeshi’ has been featured here before, but this photo is especially nice, in that you can see the darker pink buds, still a lot of pink in the flowers, and the very occasional extra petaloid on one of the flowers. Well, and some dead leaves, but the beauty of the flowers is winning out.

20230424_Mikuruma_BrockNanaimo_Eng_7898
20230424_Mikuruma-gaeshi_BrockNanaimo_Eng_7898

The ‘Ojochin’ below is even more rare locally, but it may make a come-back since this cultivar was included in the VCBF plant sale a few years ago, clones from this tree at the Japanese War Memorial in Stanley Park. When flowers open, they can be closer to the colour of the ‘Mikuruma-gaeshi’ above and also have some extra petals, so can be hard to distinguish from that. These flowers are even larger than on ‘Mikuruma-gaeshi’. The flower buds generally hang down to match the translation of their name – “large paper lantern”.

20230425 JWarMem Ojochin Willard IMG_3230
20230425 JWarMem Ojochin Willard IMG_3230