Blooming Now

Read Blossom Update: A Good Year for Cherries by Douglas Justice

May 15, 2022. Aren’t cold wet springs great?! ‘Shiro-fugen’ just keeps on keeping on. We don’t generally make two trees a Festival Favourite location, so this site in Gibsons doesn’t qualify to be listed in the Festival Favourites in Bloom section below, but it looks lovely, yes? Note that these flowers that opened white with bronze leaves now are pink flowers with green leaves.

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

You can find photos previously featured here this year in the Album at https://vcbf.ca/albums/blossoms-from-2022/. If you missed some of these postings, the newer ones have been saved in the Blog – Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (vcbf.ca)

The First International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition ended on February 28, 2022. Vancouver contributed a location for the competition: the ‘Akebono’ trees in Maple Grove Park, at the corner of SW Marine Drive and Yew Street. Douglas Justice, Associate Director, Horticulture & Collections at UBC Botanical Garden, has been photographing them beginning on March 10. These trees are in full bloom now, declared to be at 70% open flowers as of March 27, the day before these photos were taken. Note how they looked three days ago.

Douglas’s photos beginning on March 10 have been collected in the thread at Appreciation: – First International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition | UBC Botanical Garden Forums.

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

Festival Favourites no longer in Bloom