The West End 'Whitcomb' were so close to blooming last week that I had the festival map set to show them in bloom today, but last night I pulled the plug and moved the date off to Thursday. But then in two locations this morning, I saw the pink colour from two blocks away. Surely that counts for in bloom! Well, I might leave the date as it is. You can see lots of blossoms on the ground in this photo, because of the cold, I'm guessing. It's just a few degrees above freezing at night. With this turning out to be a somewhat early year (or is it a normal year - what IS a normal year?), the West End is at least two weeks ahead of the rest of the city. Though this area has a lot of green for being just off the downtown, it's still got a lot of concrete to hold the heat. The 'Whitcomb' here are also at least two and maybe three weeks ahead of 'Accolade', which will be the next to bloom. In later years, they bloom closer together. By the time the 'Accolade' come out in the West End, 'Whitcomb' will have faded to their colour. I'm guessing that in other parts of the city, the two cultivars will bloom closer together.
