Author: Wendy Cutler

May 5, 2022. ‘Shiro-fugen’ and ‘Kiku-zakura’ are probably all that will appear here for the rest of the season, as they hold onto their flowers, changing each day, with developments that are more interesting signs of senescence.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.

May 4, 2022. We are definitely winding down. ‘Kanzan’ are fading to white, though there are still good “snow” photos to be had. ‘Shiro-fugen’ flowers, which will be hanging around a lot longer, are on their way to pink. The leaves on both have turned the same colour green.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.

May 2, 2022. Here is your chance to go back in time. Trees bloom much later on Burnaby Mountain. You can still see the very rare ‘Ichihara-tora-no-o’, and ‘Shiro-fugen’ have their fresh, just-opening colours.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.

May 1, 2022. ‘Kanzan’ are still looking good, maybe even better now with their leaves having turned green. The colour is not so vibrant on the trees, but opportunities for blossom snow photos are increasing.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.

April 30, 2022. How are there still ‘Ama-no-gawa’ being posted? Cool weather means longer blooming times. ‘Ama-no-gawa’ have been open for weeks, but they are still being posted, here in Hastings-Sunrise and Davis Bay on the Sunshine Coast.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.

April 29, 2022. Your last chance to see bronze leaves with white flowers on ‘Shiro-fugen’ is fast approaching, but this cultivar can keep us entertained for the next few weeks as the leaves turn green and the flowers turn pink. Shown here are the early stages, but you can see the pink developing in the second photo.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.

April 28, 2022. Here is a ‘Gyoiko’ in Stanley Park. It blooms a little later than ‘Ukon’ and it usually gives a less yellow impression, more green and white, soon to be adding red stripes to the colour mix. This is supposed to be rare, but we think we keep finding them planted among ‘Ukon’.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.

April 27, 2022. Here is a ‘Pink Perfection’ in Burnaby. It is a hybrid of ‘Shogetsu’ (also shown), from which it takes its delicate structure and frilly petal margins, and ‘Kanzan’, which clearly give it its colour.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.

April 26, 2022. Surely you’ve seen ‘Kanzan’ flowers by now. Have you seen them with white flowers in the mix? These “Vancouver Specials” can occur anywhere grafted cherries are planted, when the usual Prunus avium, or sweet cherry, rootstock is used. If rootstock suckers start to grow and are not removed, this vigourous growth can completely take over the tree. In the meantime, you get these curious two-tone trees. We’ve collected lots of photos at Magical two-tone trees | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.

April 25, 2022. It’s overwhelmingly about ‘Kanzan’ in the parade of Festival Favourites in Bloom below, but we’re smitten by ‘Shogetsu’, by how those large white flowers with their frilly petal edges hang so delicately from such long stems. Here are two photos from Nitobe Memorial Garden.

You can share your finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

These have been featured photos on the Blooming Now page.