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Yesterday’s news – ‘Whitcomb’ cherries

20250313 WinnAbbs Whitcomb Willard IMG_5491
20250313 WinnAbbs Whitcomb Willard IMG_5491
20250224_Whitcomb_W40Yew_Eng_0763
20250313-WinnAbbs-Whitcomb-Willard-IMG_5491

March 13, 2025. Blooming is progressing slowly this year, with quite a variety of blooming dates for the early ‘Whitcomb’ cherries. The ones that opened the last week in February still look good. More have joined them, and there are still more of this cultivar yet to open. Here are blossoms posted on our forums in the Arbutus Ridge neighbourhood, photo by Anne Eng and in the Sunshine Coast neighbourhood, photo by Shirley Willard. These flowers are really smaller than they appear here – diameters are more like 2 cm.

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Yesterday’s news – Snow on ‘Whitcomb’ cherry blossoms

Whitcomb_NicolaMinipark_Cutler_20250202_112116

February 3, 2025. It was looking as if the early-blooming ‘Whitcomb’ cherries would be in their splendour next week, only one week earlier than usual, but then winter arrived. Snow on the deep pink buds and emerging blossoms at least makes for nice photos.

Whitcomb_NicolaMinipark_Cutler_20250202_112116
Whitcomb_NicolaMinipark_Cutler_20250202_112116
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Yesterday’s news – Winter cherries – Autumnalis Rosea

20241215 ParkwoodWay AutumnalisRosea Willard IMG_4332
20241215 ParkwoodWay AutumnalisRosea Willard IMG_4332

December 15, 2024. These are winter cherries, ‘Autumnalis Rosea’, either the same or a very close relative to what the Japanese call ‘Jugatsu-zakura’, “cherry of the 10th month”. It is still 2024, but these are kicking off the new year. Thanks for Shirley Willard for the photo from Richmond, and Lisa Lennie for the one from Victoria. These blossoms are very small, no more than 2 cm in diameter, smaller than they appear here.

20241215 ParkwoodWay AutumnalisRosea Willard IMG_4332
20241215 ParkwoodWay AutumnalisRosea Willard IMG_4332

Autumnalis_Belleville & Douglas St_llennie_20241206_135945
Autumnalis_Belleville & Douglas St_llennie_20241206_135945
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Shiro-fugen’ and ‘Kiku-zakura’

Shiro-fugen_StanleyPark-outsideMiniatureRR_Cutler_20240501_152134

May 6, 2024. One more last hurrah – ‘Shiro-fugen’ flowers are looking even less fresh, giving the trees a dull pink look, but the flowers are still there, particularly in the cooler areas, and they are getting more interesting.

Shiro-fugen_StanleyPark-outsideMiniatureRR_Cutler_20240501_152134
Shiro-fugen_StanleyPark-outsideMiniatureRR_Cutler_20240501_152134

Much more rare ‘Kiku-zakura’ are doing the same, aging to pink, with second-story flowers developing from the centres.

Kiku-zakura_RobsonGilford_Cutler_20240501_141548
Kiku-zakura_RobsonGilford_Cutler_20240501_141548
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Shiro-fugen’

20240419_Shirofugen_EarlesE44_Eng_0346

April 29, 2024. The last hurrah – ‘Shiro-fugen’ flowers are no longer looking fresh, but they still have colour – just not the colour they started with, which was white flowers with bronze leaves, like this.

20240419_Shirofugen_EarlesE44_Eng_0346
20240419_Shirofugen_EarlesE44_Eng_0346

Here is what the ‘Shiro-fugen’ flowers look like now, green leaves, pink flowers, some white flowers, and many flowers with a mix of pink and white petals. While dark pink ‘Kanzan’ flowers are now fading to white, these ‘Shiro-fugen’ white flowers are delayed-opening ones.

Shiro-fugen_200aStMichaudCre_maylin_20240428_IMG_8442
Shiro-fugen_200aStMichaudCre_maylin_20240428_IMG_8442
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Kiku-zakura’

April 24, 2024. We’re getting down to the wire – only the very late bloomers still have flowers worth a visit: avium ‘Plena’, ‘Shiro-fugen’, and ‘Kiku-zakura’ – the chrysanthemum cherry. These light pink flowers are smaller than the other double-flowered blossoms featured recently, but they have 75 to 100 tiny petals to start, and then they get even more petals when they start showing second-story flowers developing from their centres. At this point, the aging pink flowers are fading, and the new flowers appear with dark pink buds opening to the mature light pink colour. These trees are small, with a distinctive goblet shape filled in by somewhat straight crossing limbs.

20240422 WilliamTempleton Kiki-zakura Willard IMG_0538
20240422 WilliamTempleton Kiki-zakura Willard IMG_0538

The photo below is an unusual capture of the sepals of the second story flower before its petals have even developed.

Kiku-zakura_qe duck pond_llennie_20240414_175359
Kiku-zakura_qe duck pond_llennie_20240414_175359
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Shiro-fugen’ and ‘Shogetsu’

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.

Shiro-fugen_200aStMichaudCre_maylin_20240419_IMG_7112
Shiro-fugen_200aStMichaudCre_maylin_20240419_IMG_7112

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.

20240419_Shogetsu_WalesKingsway_Eng_0359
20240419_Shogetsu_WalesKingsway_Eng_0359
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Kanzan’ and ‘Pink Perfection’

20240406_PinkPerf_TisdallW45_Eng_0151.jpeg

April 16, 2024. Pink ‘Kanzan‘ blossoms are still running the show. These are so widely planted here because they are generally healthy trees, relative to some of the other cultivars, and are able to withstand extremes of weather and a certain amount of truck pruning. These can be large trees, very often forming a canopy over the street when planted on both sides. They open bright pink, but gradually fade to a very pale colour.

Kanzan_ BrookswoodPark_maylin_20240413_IMG_5934
Kanzan_ BrookswoodPark_maylin_20240413_IMG_5934

Not in competition at all, but with similar-looking flowers, are ‘Pink Perfection‘ trees. These much more delicate trees will never form a canopy over a street. So far, they have not been particularly hardy here, but UBC Botanical Garden has propagated some on their own roots (not grafted, as all previously seen ones here were), to see if they will be more healthy. When these first open, they create a raspberry swirl ice-cream effect with their red buds, dark pink outer petals, and lighter inner petals.

20240406_PinkPerf_TisdallW45_Eng_0151
20240406_PinkPerf_TisdallW45_Eng_0151
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Kanzan’

April 11, 2024. You might have noticed – ‘Kanzan‘ blossoms are starting to appear. The City of Vancouver Street Trees Portal shows 10,000 of them planted as street trees, many of them lining whole blocks on both sides of the street. Since they’re also planted in parks and are popular in private yards, it gets pretty pink around here.

20240409-Beatty Mews - Kanzan 7 - Yaletowner
20240409-Beatty Mews – Kanzan 7 – Yaletowner
20240419_Kanzan_CommercialE47_Eng_0332
20240419_Kanzan_CommercialE47_Eng_0332
Kanzan_TaylorWay-above-UpperLevels_DerekK_20240418_IMG_1593
Kanzan_TaylorWay-above-UpperLevels_DerekK_20240418_IMG_1593
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Shirotae’ and ‘Ukon’

20240404_Ukon_VDAutumnStroll_Eng_0129

April 7, 2024. Still everything is blooming at once, still mid-season and late-season trees. Moving on to double flowers now, having more than five petals. Here is a comparison of fragrant white ‘Shirotae‘ blossoms, usually opening in the mid-season …

Shirotae_ 56AveEastleighCre_maylin_20240405_IMG_5125
Shirotae_ 56AveEastleighCre_maylin_20240405_IMG_5125

… , and ‘Ukon‘, with pale yellow flowers, usually appearing a little later. These often look white, unless there is something white to which to compare them. But as they age, they may take on some up-close colour interest with green and red stripes.

20240404_Ukon_VDAutumnStroll_Eng_0129
20240404_Ukon_VDAutumnStroll_Eng_0129

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