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Cherry Scouts Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Yesterday’s News – ‘Whitcomb’

March 6, 2024. Even though most of the earliest to bloom ‘Whitcomb’ cherry trees were hard hit by the January freeze, there were some nice-looking blossoms, sparsely distributed on most of the trees. Here is a recent photo from Richmond.

20240304 Hazlebridge Alexandra Whitcomb Willard IMG_7963
20240304 Hazlebridge Alexandra Whitcomb Willard IMG_7963
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Yesterday’s news – ‘Shiro-fugen’

May 13, 2023. The most interesting, most magical, longest in bloom cherry tree around right now is ‘Shiro-fugen’. These opened with white flowers and bronze leaves. Many still had white flowers when the leaves started to turn green. Then the flowers started to turn luminescent pink from the centres. Eventually, the trees are becoming ‘Kanzan’-coloured pink, with green or bronzy-green leaves. Yet new flowers keep opening, white, so it’s easy to see them when you’re looking closely at the flowers. From close-up, the ‘Shiro-fugen’ flowers won’t look as withered as soon. Thanks to Shirley Willard, Taka Naidu, Anne Eng, Yong Hui, Lisa Lennie, May Lin and Wendy Cutler for the photos.

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Shosar

Anne Eng, VCBF Cherry Scout, introduces us to Shosar cherry trees on the UBC Neighborhood Blog for Burnaby:

The two trees of ‘Shosar’ are in full bloom on the south side of Sherban Crescent, east of Holdom, at March 26, 2022.
Bright “cerise” pink flowers with red sepals and calyxes, and veins on the petals.

Anne Eng, VCBF Cherry Scout
Photo: Anne Eng.
Photo: Anne Eng.
Photo: Anne Eng.
Photo: Anne Eng.
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Akebono at Coal Harbour

Nice curve of Akebono along the seawall at Coal Harbor this morning. Many people out taking photos by them!

Lisa L. on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums Blog for Downtown
Photo: Lisa L.
Photo: Lisa L.
Photo: Lisa L.
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Photos Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

The Indicator Tree

Many cherry blossom festivals have selected a special tree to serve as an “index tree” (Tokyo) or “indicator tree” (Washington D.C.) When over 70% of its flowers are in bloom, they declare that cherry trees are officially in bloom in the city.

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival does not have an official indicator tree so, for the purpose of the First International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition, the Akebono trees in Maple Grove Park, at the corner of SW Marine Drive and Yew Street, were designated as the Vancouver location. In a way, these trees will serve as our first indicator trees.

Douglas Justice is monitoring the trees and will declare their official blooming date. Stay tuned for the big reveal.

Photo: Douglas Justice.
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Cherry Scouts Photos

Blooming Now: a visual timeline for cherry blossom viewing in Vancouver

This visual timeline features the estimated blooming period for ten of the most common cultivars of cherry trees in Vancouver: Whitcomb, Beni-Shidare, Accolade, Akebono, Umineko / Snow Goose,  Shirotae, Shirofugen, Kanzan, Kiku-shidare-zakura, Shogetsu.

Happy cherry blossom viewing!

(Click the image to expand the timeline)

Timeline_2020_Vancouver_Cherry_Blossoms_Tremblay
Timeline of Vancouver Cherry Blossoms blooming date for 2020. Photos by Jessica Tremblay, dates from https://www.vcbf.ca/neighbourhood-maps

 

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A mix of Accolade and Akebono

On 5th avenue (corner Lilooet), you’ll find two different kinds of trees: Accolade and Akebono cherry trees (notice the different colours on the photo).

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It’s a good location to appreciate the difference between the two cherry trees:

  • Akebono cherry trees are lighter and blossoms have five petals.
  • Accolade cherry trees are darker and blossoms have more than five petals.

When I visited, the Accolade were declining and the Akebono were peaking.

20190406_5thlillooet_akebono_tremblay_IMG_8724 20190406_5thlillooet_akebono_tremblay_IMG_8722

From the top of the hill, you get an amazing view of the highrises in Burnaby Brentwood area.

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Visit soon to be showered with petals or use our neighbourhood map to find Akebono trees near you.

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Downtown walk under Akebono blossoms

Akebono cherry trees have reached peak bloom in downtown Vancouver. It’s a lovely time for a walk.

20190404_DenmanBayshore_akebono_tremblay 20190404_DenmanBayshore_akebono_tremblay 20190404_DenmanBayshore_akebono_tremblay 20190404_DenmanBayshore_akebono_tremblay 20190404_DenmanBayshore_akebono_tremblay 20190404_DenmanBayshore_akebono_tremblay

 

Want to know more about Vancouver cherry trees? Join our free Cherry Talks and Walks starting this Sunday April 7.

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Cherry Scouts Photos

Playtime under Whitcomb cherry trees

Whitcomb cherry blossoms at McSpaden Park Vancouver Whitcomb cherry blossoms at McSpaden Park Vancouver

McSpaden Park is a great destination if you want to see Whitcomb cherry trees this week. You’ll find about ten trees planted along Victoria Drive. Part of the canopy hangs over the fence, offering a nice picnic spot.

Besides cherry blossom viewing, there are also plenty of options for outdoor sports and a playground for the little ones.  When I arrived on a cloudy Saturday morning, the crows were occupying the soccer field, the tennis courts were busy, and a dog walker was sitting on a park bench enjoying the view.

Whitcomb cherry blossoms at McSpaden Park Vancouver Whitcomb cherry blossoms at McSpaden Park Vancouver

Among the fallen flowers, I found a Whitcomb blossom with a petaloid. A petaloid is a small, unformed, sixth petal occasionally found on young flowers (such as Akebono). The petaloid usually falls off at an early stage, so you rarely see them. It was the first time I saw a petaloid on a Whitcomb flower.  It was quite exciting… like finding a four-leaf clover.

Petaloid on a whitcomb cherry blossom

The cherry petals will start falling soon, so visit your local Whitcomb cherry trees this week. Find them on the neighbourhood map.

Next: it’s almost time to see Accolade and Akebono flowers, so keep checking the Blog and Blooming Now page for more news. And don’t miss our Cherry Jam downtown concert under the beautiful canopy of Akebono trees at Burrard skytrain station on April 4nd.

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Downtown Akebono Blossoms Looking Great

Easter Week-end is always a great time to go cherry blossom viewing in Vancouver. The Akebono cherry trees are in bloom and looking spectacular.

My favorite location is Georgia and Denman which has a beautiful reflective pool:

20180331_GeorgiaDenman_Akebono_Tremblay_IMG_7714 20180331_GeorgiaDenman_Akebono_Tremblay_IMG_7735

At the entrance of Stanley Park, at Alberni, young akebono will allow you to take close-ups:

20180331_alberniStanleyPark_akebono_Tremblay_20180331_alberniStanleyPark_akebono_Tremblay_ 20180331_alberniStanleyPark_akebono_Tremblay_

Instead of entering Stanley Park (cherry trees in that location always need a few more days to bloom), I opted to wander in the West-End where you can encounter Akebono in bloom at various street corners, such as here in Nelson and Broughton:

20180331_NelsonBroughton_Akebono_Tremblay_IMG_7927 20180331_NelsonBroughton_Akebono_Tremblay_IMG_7927

There are lots of buds in the Downtown trees, which means you still have time to visit. They should be in full bloom within 2-3 days.

Attend one of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s Tree Talks and Walks to learn more about cherry trees.