Vancouver Cherry Blossom FestivalPresented by
April 6, 2023. We have not yet featured ‘Pandora’, an early season bloomer with white flowers. The petals on these are almost twice as long as they are wide, so they do not overlap. That is a distinctive feature on these goblet-shaped trees. Thanks to Anne Eng for this photo.
You can find blossom photos featured here at Blog – Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (vcbf.ca).
At Mount Pleasant park, you’ll find this adorable Pandora cherry tree. It has small blossoms with just a hint of pink at the tip of the petals.
Did you know Pandora cherry blossoms don’t lose their petals? It’s the whole flower that falls to the ground. Check on the grass and you’ll see them.
Mount Pleasant Park is located at 15th and Manitoba, but there are plenty more Pandora trees around the city. Use the neighbourhood map to find them.
(Tip: The four Pandora trees are looking spectacular behind the Brentwood Mall right now.)
I went to take a look at the beautiful Pandora cherry trees behind Brentwood Mall (at Fairlawn and Brentlawn) in Burnaby. They looked spectacular!
The flowers are almost fully open.
You can identify Pandora cherry blossoms by the darker shade of pink at the tip of the petals.
Also, the flowers of the Pandora cherry trees fall WHOLE on the ground.
Make sure to visit Pandora cherry trees within the next week. Check our VCBF neighborhood map to locate Pandora cultivars.
Photos: Jessica Tremblay
What a gorgeous Saturday afternoon! The sun came up just as I reached Mount Pleasant Park. I love this location: there are three Pandora cherry trees you can photograph with the North Shore mountains in the background.
You can identify Pandora cherry blossoms by the hint of dark pink at the tip of their petals. This dark pink is visible when the flowers just opened up — later on, the flowers will get whiter — so come see them early!
Another feature of the Pandora cherry tree is that the flowers fall WHOLE. If you look under a tree and you see only FALLEN FLOWERS (no petals!), it’s likely that the cherry tree is a Pandora cultivar.
There are plenty of fresh buds on the trees, which means it will be blooming for a while, but don’t wait too late: visit this location within the next week and make sure to bring your picnic. There are lot of picnic tables in the park and the views of the North Shore mountains are amazing!
Photos: Jessica Tremblay
Mount Pleasant Park is a great location to see three beautiful Pandora cherry trees in bloom right now.
The Pandora trees are bursting with blossoms (and bees!)
This location can get quite windy (it’s a huge park), so you might have to be patient when you try to do close-ups: the wind makes the branches move.
As you take your pictures, prepare to be (gently) smacked in the face by falling cherry blossoms.
One characteristic of Pandora cherry blossoms is that the flowers fall whole.
You will rarely see fallen cherry petals under a Pandora tree: only fallen blossoms.
Mount Pleasant Park (Ontario, between 15th and 16th) is a great location for a hanami picnic: lots of picnic tables, park benches, a kids park and community centre nearby. With its incredible views of the cherry trees with North shore mountains, this is quickly becoming one of my favorite locations (see my pictures of Mount Pleasant Park from 2014)
Visit within the next week.
Photos by Jessica Tremblay
There are six Pandora cherry trees blooming behind the Brentwood Mall at Fairlawn/Brentlawn in Burnaby.
How to identify Pandora cherry trees
I’ve been wondering for the past three years what type of cherry trees they were. Since I’ve recently completed my cherry scout training with the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, I decided to visit the trees again to try to identify them. Here’s how I determined they were Pandora cherry trees. I hope these tips will help you recognize Pandora cherry trees in your neighbourhood.
Season
When you want to identify a cherry tree, the time of the year when the tree is blooming can be a clue: some trees bloom earlier than others. The guide to Ornamental cherries in Vancouver lists all cherry trees in order of blooming time, so it’s very helpful for cherry scouts. At this time of the year, I know there are only a few possibilities: Whitcomb, Accolade, Pandora, Akebono…
The six trees on Fairlawn bloom early in the season, usually at the same time of plum trees. Since it’s too soon for Akebono at the time, and the blossoms don’t have any extra petals (a sixth incomplete petal that sometimes grow on Akebono blossom at the beginning of the season), I eliminate the possibility of them being Akebono.
The number of petals
Because the blossoms on Fairlawn street have only five petals, they cannot be Accolade – Accolade have more than 5 petals – so I eliminate this possibility.
The color of the blossoms
The tip of the petals are a darker shade of pink (which is the main characteristics of Pandora cherry blossoms). If these were Whitcomb blossoms, the blossoms would be completely dark pink. At this stage, I’m pretty sure these are Pandora cherry blossoms. I only have to look at my feet to confirm it…
How the blossoms fall
Pandora cherry blossoms are particularly easy to identify because their blossoms fall intact on the ground. You won’t find petals under Pandora tree, but grass covered in flowers!
The more cherry trees you visit, the better you will be at identifying them. The fact that I had already seen Pandora cherry trees at Mount Pleasant Park last year helped me identify the Pandora trees in Burnaby today.
Pandora cherry trees are in bloom everywhere in the city. Find them now on our neighborhood map.
All photos by Jessica Tremblay
After hearing that Pandora cherry trees were blooming in Vancouver, I used the neighborhood maps to find a location and decided to go to Mt. Pleasant Park.
At Mount Pleasant Park (Ontario, between 15th and 16th), I found three Pandora cherry trees. With the Northshore mountains in the background, it’s a beautiful location to take pictures.
At first glance, this Pandora cherry tree (a modern hybrid) may look like Akebono. You’ll have to get closer to see the main difference…
The main characteristic of the Pandora cherry blossom is that the petals are deeper pink at the end. Can you see in this picture how the tips are darker pink?
The tree on 15th and Ontario has low branches, so you’ll be able to take shots like this in macro (without using a zoom).
It’s important to identify the Pandora cherry trees early (thanks to the darker pink at the end of the petals), because the flowers will usually turn white before falling…
Another main characteristic of the Pandora is that (most) blossoms fall intact!
On some of the fallen flowers, you’ll still be able to see the darker pink at the tip of the petals. But most flowers will be completely white when they fall.
There were lots of flowers under the tree.
You’ll notice something odd about these Pandora cherry trees: you can’t see the horizontal bars (lenticels) on the bark. Judging by the bark, you might think it’s a plum tree and not a cherry tree, but this tree is definitely a Pandora cherry tree.
To recap the characteristics of Pandora cherry trees:
Check out the Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver for more information about the 54 varieties of cherry trees in Vancouver and to identify them.
Is this a good spot for Hanami picnic? Absolutely! Lots of green grass, park benches, lots of trees, fresh air, and stunning view of the Northshore Mountains. This location is a ten out of ten! Visit in the next week and bring your picnic!