Categories
Cherry Scouts Photos

A full day of cherry blossom viewing in Vancouver

First, I visit the Accolade cherry trees at Chilco Park (Chilco/Comox). “Hey, the cherry blossoms are out!” said a man cycling by.

Tip: The Accolade blossoms are 70% in bloom. Visit this location within 10 days to enjoy peak blossom.

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Then, I check on the Akebono cherry trees at Burrard skytrain station.  Mostly buds, but the trees at the front (which are exposed to the sun) already have a few flowers.

Tip: It looks like the cherry blossoms will be fully open in 10 days. Visit around March 25 to experience peak bloom.

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Whitcombs cherry blossoms at Ayshire and Aubrey in Burnaby are finally open. The trees are bloomed at 70%.

Tip: Visit within 7 days to catch peak bloom and 10-15 days to be showered in petals.

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Wow! That was an exciting day of cherry scouting!  At night, I sort through my photos. The next day, I post my findings on the UBC botanical garden forum.

Tip: Did you know you can see what’s blooming in your neighbourhood by visiting the UBC botanical garden forum? Click on your neighborhood and navigate to the last page to see what was posted recently.

Additional tip: Create a login and you’ll be able to subscribe to a thread to receive news of blooming trees in your neighbourhood.

If you’d like to learn how to identify cherry trees, visit the VCBF cherry scout page.

Categories
Cherry Jam Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Cherry Jam opening concert at Burrard Skytrain

It was a gorgeous sunny day for the opening of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival at the Burrard skytrain station today.

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The Akebono cherry buds were about to open, and there were some blossoms at the top of the trees.

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First stop: the Cocktails and Canape booth where you could pick up a Blossom Bliss picnic, along with cherry blossom shake, and popcorn dessert.

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After browsing the vendors’ table, it was time to pick a spot: the show was about to start.

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First, Sinfonia Orchestra took the stage for an amazing concert. A choir accompanied them on stage, and then some flash-mob singers, dispersed throughout the crowd, joined their voice for a rendition of Sakura! Sakura! I’m really glad they played it twice because that was a pretty cool to hear all the voices joining the choir from everywhere in the station.

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Then, we were delighted by the sound of Son De Maple, a Vancouver based band with a latin sound and the most amazing percussionist I’ve ever seen (never thought someone could play a tambourine like this).

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The Cherry Jam concert ended with the Uzume Taiko drumming group. They were accompanied  by members of the South Asian Arts group who made us dance to the sound of Bollywood music.

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Linda Poole, the festival director, closed the festivities and wished everybody a happy spring and a great Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival.

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The Akebono cherry trees, which are be 2-3 weeks behind the normal blooming season, are just about to open everywhere in the city, so go visit soon!

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Leaving the station, I saw a woman taking pictures of the smaller tree planted in front of the station and realized this was probably my best chance for me to get a close-up  of the blossoms. The tree is in the sunlight. It was perfect.

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If you didn’t pick up a VCBF schedule at the festival tent, you’ll find it in this this week’s Georgia Straight. Visit our website for a complete list of activities and updates.

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Categories
Cherry Scouts Photos

Queen Elizabeth Park: Akebono cherry trees are full of buds

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The Akebono cherry trees at Queen Elizabeth park are not in bloom, yet.

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The trees are full of buds.  Flowers should open in the next 7-10 days.

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Still, there was people having a picnic under the cherry trees including under the somei-yoshino tree (right picture).

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On the lower parking lot level, this park bench will be a sought-after spot in a week or two.

Categories
Photos

Cherry Buds at Burrard Skytrain

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At Burrard Skytrain, the Akebono cherry trees are full of buds.

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You’ll find some isolated branches with cherry blossoms.

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However, it’s mostly cherry buds for now.

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The buds are giving the trees a nice pink hue.

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It’s a great time to have a look at cherry buds to see how cherry blossoms grow.  In this picture,  two flowers are coming out of one bud.

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These cherry blossoms are not afraid of the rain, neither should you be.

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The cherry trees will be in full bloom at the Burrard Skytrain Station in a couple of weeks, just in time for our Cherry Jam on April 3rd! Don’t miss it!

Cherry Jam will showcase performances by the Yayoi Movement Theatre, Folk artist Michael Averill, 2013 Haiku Invitational celebrity readings and Haiku Bard by Christopher Gaze of Bard on the Beach, an energetic dance performance by VanCity Soran and the thunderous sounds of Richmond’s Tetsu Taiko to warm up the scenes of Cherry Jam.

Categories
Photos

Akebono Cherry Buds

Akebono cherry bud at Burrard skytrain station
March 8, 2013

Can you guess how many blossoms came out of that cherry bud?

Akebono cherry bud at Burrard skytrain station.
March 22, 2013

There were actually three Akebono cherry blossoms hidden inside that bud!

I’m not even sure what all the parts of a cherry blossom are called. I’ve registered to the cherry scout program to learn more about these beautiful trees. There will be a free workshop called Blossom Biology on April 11, 2013 offered by Douglas Justice.

Tree Talk (not a Walk) in the evening: Blossom Biology Workshop

  • April 11, 2013, Thursday, 7:30pm to 9pm
  • Classroom at VanDusen Botanical Garden, in the new building, end of hallway to the left
  • Presented by Douglas Justice, Associate Director and Curator of Collections, UBC Botanical Garden & Centre for Plant Research

Douglas brings the cherries to you! Learn how to identify our cherry cultivars. Registration is requested for this workshop, as seating is limited.

Register now.

Categories
Photos

Burrard Station Update

Burrard skytrain station March 25 2013

At the Burrard skytrain station there are lots of cherry buds right now but only a  few cherry blossoms are open.

Burrard skytrain station March 25 2013

The Akebono cherry blossoms should be open by the end of this week.

Subscribe to the blog to receive updates directly in your inbox (you’ll find the Follow the blog by e-mail box in the left column).

Categories
Cherry Jam Photos

Burrard Station Update

Akebono cherry blossoms at Burrard skytrain station.

The Akebono cherry trees at the Burrard skytrain station were a beautiful shade of pink when I visited this afternoon around 4.30pm.

Akebono cherry blossom buds at Burrard skytrain station.

The branches were filled with pink buds that are just about to open!

Akebono cherry blossom buds at Burrard skytrain station.

Just wait a couple of days and it will be cherry blossom galore!

Akebono cherry blossom buds at Burrard skytrain station.

It looks like we’ll have plenty of cherry blossoms for the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Cherry Jam on April 4th.

Akebono cherry blossom at Burrard skytrain station.

Cherry viewing tip: You will find only a few cherry blossoms at the Burrard skytrain station right now: they are close to tree trunk, too high, or close to the glass panels. Not ideal.

When to visit: just wait  5-7 days to visit this location and you’ll be greeted by thousand of blossoms and will be able to walk under the pink canopy! Subscribe to the blog or follow us on Facebook to receive updates.

All photos taken at Burrard skytrain station March 22, 2013 between 4.30-5.00pm

PS Compare with the pictures I took March 8. The trees went from green to pink in less than 2 weeks. Amazing!

Categories
Arts & Crafts Photos

What’s up at Burrard Skytrain Station

The cherry trees at Burrard skytrain station

At the Burrard skytrain no cherry blossoms yet, but plenty of buds!

Knitted blossom hung on a cherry tree at the Burrard Skytrain

The only cherry blossom I found was this knitted blossom that someone had hung on a branch. (This reminded me of the yarn bombing of Joy Kogawa’s house in 2011!)

The cherry trees at Burrard skytrain station

The good news though is that the Akebono cherry trees are full of buds which means that cherry blossoms are only a few weeks away.

The cherry trees at Burrard skytrain station

The cherry buds give the trees a nice green glow.

The cherry trees at Burrard skytrain station

In a few weeks, there will be so many cherry blossoms on these branches you will barely be able to see the sky!

Don’t forget to reserve your SakuraB bento box to picnic under the blossom at the Burrard skytrain station during our popular Cherry jam concert (April 4th).