Vancouver Cherry Blossom FestivalPresented by
April 16, 2025 ‘Takasago’ trees almost always look awkward and diseased in Vancouver, but when they bloom, the flowers are so beautiful and densely packed that all is forgiven. They open, as shown here, with deep pink buds brightening to small pinky white double flowers. These will turn white, acquiring red eyes when they age. These uncommon trees have a few even more rare look-alikes. Their distinctive characteristic is their hairy, almost fuzzy, flower stems.
From Wendy Cutler:
Anne Eng (aka Anne Mah) has posted some photos of Takasago blossoms.
The problem with “Takasago”, as Douglas Justice said about a different kind of cherry, is that they are “exquisite flowers on ugly trees”. On the festival Cherry Cultivars page, he says “This cherry’s tight, clustered flowers unfortunately also increase its susceptibility to disease, and most specimens in Vancouver are badly disfigured”. By which he means that they have brown rot all over them.
The blossoms are particularly beautiful when they’re first coming out, when the buds are almost red and the flowers open to white, demonstrated beautifully in Anne’s photos. They’re coming out now, so it’s time to look for them.
