Blooming Now

Blooming Now — Read the latest updates on cherry blossoms, including blooming dates, prime locations, and tips for capturing stunning photos. Follow our cherry scouts, as we share firsthand insights and ensures you never miss a moment of the blossoms’ beauty. Whether you’re planning a visit or simply admiring from afar, this page is your go-to resource for all things cherry blossoms.

Latest Updates

March 22, 2025 – Let’s talk Plums!

If you live in or near Vancouver, BC, ornamental plums, Prunus cerasifera, densely lining one or both sides of one or more blocks, are now or will soon be sporting their popcorn-looking blossoms. They come in pink or white, the white ones opening first, and usually both colours open at the same time. They are hard to miss – Vancouver city itself has around 17,000 of them planted as street trees. 

Compare the two photos above, plum buds on the left, ‘Akebono’ cherry buds on the right. These are easy to distinguish if you take the time to get up close. 

• Plum buds are round; cherry buds are pointed

• Plum buds are singles – one bud opens to one flower; cherry buds open to reveal three-to-five flowers, all wrapped together in the single bud scale. 

• Plum tree leaves appear when the flowers open; in this early part of the season, no cherry trees open their leaves when the flowers open.

• Plum blossoms might be fragrant; the early cherries have little to no scent. 

You can find blossom photos with descriptions that were featured here at Blog – Yesterday’s news and more – Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (vcbf.ca).

Scouts have shared their finds on our forums at VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs | UBC Botanical Garden Forums. You can search for cultivar locations on the festival map at Neighbourhood Maps (vcbf.ca).

You can find the new 2014 enlarged edition of the indispensable guide to Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver, written by Douglas Justice, Associate Director & Curator of Collections at UBC Botanical Garden. Purchase the full eBook version here on our Shop.

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International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition

“When will the cherry trees bloom in 2025?” The VCBF is once again offering up our ‘Akebono’ trees at Maple Grove Park, for the fourth year of the International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition. More information about the challenge can be found at https://competition.statistics.gmu.edu/. The contestants have picked March 31 as the 2025 blooming date. ChatGPT has picked March 25. The race is on!

You can see photos of the blooming progression last year at Yesterday’s news – 2024 International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition – Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (vcbf.ca).

Photos from 2025 at Maple Grove Park

We started monitoring our competition trees on March 22. Temperatures have only been above 10C degrees on two days, with these trees just showing visible florets. In the rain.

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Festival Favourites

Some of our festival favourite photo-op locations will be shown here during the bloom season with current year photos and the approximate blooming dates. Red markers on our festival map show all our favourite locations. ​​​​When we talk about Festival Favourites, we mean you will be happy you made the trip to see them to photograph them. When you’re there, remember the neighbours:

1) do not climb the trees
2) do not break the branches
3) be respectful of the residents who live on the street
4) do not stop in the middle of the street
5) keep your visit to a max of 15mins (cause really, how long does it take to snap a few photos?)
6) stay on city property, do not go on private property
7) try to stay off the grass, especially if you are wearing heels.
Mostly – be respectful to the environment and the residents. Remember that it is the residents who are responsible for caring for those trees.

Learn How to Take Cherry Blossom Photos with your phone thanks to Cakewalk Media for the tips!

Festival Favourites in Bloom

Below is a sampling of the festival favourite photo-op locations posted on our forums. You too can become a Cherry Scout and share photos with us – see Cherry Scouts – Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (vcbf.ca).

Festival Favourites no longer in Bloom