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

April 19, 2024. Not all late-blooming cherries are pink. Here are two double white cherries that can look alike. ‘Shiro-fugen’ are easy to distinguish when the flowers are opening – at that point, the leaves are bronze, buds are a brownish pink, opened flowers are white. Two weeks later, and as much as another two weeks or more, the leaves will be green, and the flowers become partly or completely fluorescent pink.

However, one week into ‘Shiro-fugen’ flowering, they do not look all that different from the ‘Shogetsu’, seen below. ‘Shiro-fugen’ should be much heftier trees, but it’s hard to tell that on very young trees. ‘Shogetsu’ buds are a a very pale pink. The flowers also open white, and the petals mostly drop still white within two or three weeks. The name refers to the “moonlight on pine trees” suggested by the long flower stems. These are usually delicate trees that often do not do well in our climate.

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 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

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) was 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 contestants were not aware that we would have a week of unseasonably warm weather in March, which has caused all our cherry trees to bloom early. The peak bloom for our contest trees has been announced as March 23, 2024. You can see photos of the blooming progression at Yesterday’s news – 2024 International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition – Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (vcbf.ca).

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Festival Favourites

Some of our festival favourite photo-op locations were 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