Strathcona

Linda Poole took this photo of the Shirotae [edited 2011oct4 by wcutler] in front of the Chinese Social Development Society, on the side on Jackson at Pender. Today was the Legacy Sakura Celebration at Oppenheimer Park, two blocks north from here. Note that the mouse-over location is incorrect - I misunderstood the location when I posted it.

 

First posting 2010

These are in front of the parking structure that is part of my office, on Alexander at Princess. Unfortunately they are pretty badly pruned, so their shape isn't great, but it is always a treat to have this early reminder of spring on its way. I think, from what Wendy tells me, they are probably Whitcombs, but I wouldn't know!

 

The avium 'Plena' are coming into bloom in Thornton Park across from the train station. Anne Eng's photos from 2008 in posting #10 were taken when they were more in bloom. You can see how round the buds are in the second photo, and the curled back sepals typical of P. avium in the third photo. The tree with the gnarly trunk is the one close to Main St.

Cottrell St, just west of The Home Depot building, will have 'Kanzan' in bloom on both sides of the street in about a week. They're not old enough yet to form a canopy.

 

Is it possible that Shirofugens could still have a few blossoms in late May??? Here are some shots I took today of a lone cherry at the southeast corner of Pender and Gore, on the grounds of the angular Anglican church:

Unfortunately, the first shot is out of focus, and the second one is of a blossom past its prime:



... but maybe you can see this phenomenon a bit better here - it appears that there are two layers of blossoms - pink underneath with a second layer that is white. Quite spectacular, and totally unexpected at this time of year!



Laura 3:)

 

Yes, 'Shirofugen' trees definitely have some blossoms into May; in normal years, they'd still have some in June, but I don't know about this year. They might also have some new blossoms too, along with the old ones hanging on. You'd never say they were still "in bloom" and send people across town to see them, but they're amazing to look at close up.

Here's a posting in the Shirofugen thread in Cultivar IDs that shows how much variety there is in the aging blossoms, these from June 9 last year.

 

I took festival director Linda Poole to see these 'Autumnalis Rosea' trees outside the police building, which a scout told me about (and was going to post!), so Linda took me to see the earliest blooming 'Whitcomb' cherry in Vancouver, which only she and her friend who works at the Firehall Theatre know about, because they don't post them here. These are in the yard behind the theatre, on Gore at Cordova. There's an 'Autumnalis Rosea' (near the street, which is supposed to be in bloom now), the 'Whitcomb', which is not really in bloom yet but does have a lot of blossoms, when the West End trees have just a very few. There's a third cherry, but I couldn't tell what it is.

 

Re: Mount Pleasant

Four Whitcombs are in full bloom at 333 Terminal Avenue (north side), between Station and Thornton Streets, on March 14, 2011. The two trees at the east end of the site look better than the two at the west.

 

Re: Mount Pleasant

Funny - I just happened to pass those today and they caught my eye too, but I thought they were plums (I was looking at them from across the street)! Good for you for stopping to take some nice shots.

Laura 3:)

 

Blossoms are coming along in Strathcona. They should be perfect for David Tracey's Tree Talk and Walk on Saturday, April 2, starting at Oppenheimer Park at 1pm.

I did not photograph the festival favourite 'Accolade' stretch of three block from Princess to Campbell, as except for two trees, they have almost no flowers yet.

At Hawks and Georgia, is a nice intersection mini-park planting of 'Accolade' trees.


A block south at Hawks and Union is another nice intersection garden with 'Accolade' that will be looking good next week.


In 2003, the Footprints Community Art Project, with the Carnegie Community Centre Association, published a Walking Tour of The Downtown Eastside, which includes photos of the 31 "Carnegie" mosaics installed by this project, with historical commentary written by Chuck Davis.


Along the south side of Union from Heatley to Hawks are two houses each with two 'Accolade', some with several blossoms and one with only a very few.


Another block south, at Hawks and Prior is one more mini-park with (one?) 'Accolade'.


Across Prior on the the block west of Hawks is an apartment complex with six young 'Whitcomb' trees bordering the entrance to the parking area.


This private 'Beni-shidare' on Heatley just south of Union is showing a few blossoms.

 

March 22, no blossoms open on Pender; today the three block stretch of 'Accolade' from Princess to Campbell is fully in bloom. So worth a trip. And the other locations mentioned in the previous posting are still looking fine.


That's Steve Hawkins from CTV in the third photo. He coached me to take the fourth photo.

This is also a good spot to compare 'Autumnalis Rosea' with 'Accolade'. There are two 'Autumnalis Rosea' between Heatley and Hawks, and one of the residents told me there are others in the block from Hawks to Campbell.

 

David Tracey led a Tree Talk and Walk in Strathcona today, starting in Oppenheimer Park. Amazingly, the 'Somei-yoshino' and 'Akebono' were in bloom AND the sun was shining AND the 'Accolade' reported previously were still in bloom. David invited Casey Sato, of the Coalition to Save the Legacy Sakura of Oppenheimer Park, to talk about the fight to save the trees and the compromise solution to keep the trees in the southeast corner and move one of the ones from the northeast corner. The old 'Somei-yoshino' are looking excellent.

In the second shot is cherry scout Dingren, who was excited to find the 'Shirotae' just beginning to open up at Jackson and Pender. We joked about the choice of colours of the houses on Pender in the third photo - pink to match the cherries and blue to match the sky. The fourth shot shows the level of the ground on which the houses were built, before the street was put in at the higher elevation.

I love the cherry blossoms on the banners.
[Edited by wcutler 2011apr03: I added the last photo, 'Somei-yoshino' in Oppenheimer Park - I need it for the vcbf website.

 

Accolades (?) about 60% in bloom at Strathcona Liner Park, Hawks & Union:



Laura 3:)

 

I learned about this 'Autumnalis Rosea' at the Dr. Sun Yat-Set garden from the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Blog. And I learned about that from the festival's facebook page.

There is just one of these trees, and it's probably as nice an example of this cultivar as I've seen.

 

The two cherry trees in the yard behind the Firehall Theatre at Gore and Cordova are both 'Whitcomb', and they're in full bloom now. The pink car's owner was leaving the scene just as I arrived.


At the street is an 'Autumnalis Rosea', as exciting as it's going to get.

 

Re: Mount Pleasant

Four Whitcombs in full bloom on the north side of 333 Terminal Avenue, just east of Main Street, March 3, 2013

 

Chinatown

A couple of trees in bloom in the little park at Union & Gore on the bikeway by the Dunsmuir Viaduct east off ramp.

 

Union Bikeway Views

Some nice trees along the Union bikeway including the old ones over the fancy new bike tire pump!

 

Re: Union Bikeway Views

Thanks for posting those 'Accolade'. I've been wondering how they're doing. We need them and the run of 'Accolade' on Pender to be out next Sunday for David Tracey's Tree Talk and Walk starting at Oppenheimer Park at 10am (April 7). This warm weather isn't helping the cause at all. If you see something worth taking a walk to see in that area, particularly something not posted previously (I expect the 'Shirotae' at Pender and Jackson to be in bloom), please do post it.

I don't think I've ever seen a bike pump in a park. Nice.

 

Openheimer Park

Nice display of blossoms in this iconic location.

 

Blossom Forecast

There may be lots of blossoms yet to pop. In Yaletown, the buds are just starting to appear on Beaty Walk and Expo-Pacific Blvd and I see lots of trees yet to awaken from winter while a neighbouring tree is in full bloom. I am finding out that there can be a mix of varieties in one location so it isn't as simple as just looking at past postings especially in places with lots of trees and only a few posts.

 

I'm glad Yaletowner posted photos from Oppenheimer Park, since I forgot to do that today at David Tracey's Tree Talk and Walk. But I saw some new things in the area.

The hit of the day for me is this O-yama-zakura - Prunus sargentii, at the southwest corner of Lord Strathcona School, at Jackson and Keefer. The only others of this tree that we know in Vancouver are in the botanical gardens, and I think we ID'd a location in Richmond (should be on the map, but is not yet).


On the walk, we were even able to compare that tree with a 'Rancho' at two places on the block of Union east from Jackson.


I knew we'd at least be able to see this 'Shirotae' in bloom at the Chinese Social Development Society on Jackson at Pender. I found another at Keefer and Princess at the Strathcona Community Centre. As I was leaving, I found one more at Campbell at Keefer, with an 'Akebono'. [Edited 2015mar22: the tree at the community centre seems to be missing.]


The property on the SW corner of Keefer at Princess has two 'Yae-beni-shidare' - not large trees, but a nice size for the space.

 

Cherry scout Steven Shen put me in touch with Kelly Borget, an organizer with the Vancouver Photowalks Meetup Group. She had posted in a virtual meetup these 'Autumnalis Rosea' in front of the police station on Cordova at Main. Kelly sent them to me and wrote "I was stunned to see them out so early, I drove by them and had to go around the block to see if I'd seen what I thought I'd seen!"

Kelly, they're right on time. Glad you noticed them.

 

Some of the 'Accolade' trees on Pender between Princess and Campbell are looking quite nice, but fortunately, others are not quite ready.

That's good, because I'm hoping there will still be some blossoms for David Tracey's Strathcona Tree Talk and Walk on Sunday, April 6, 2014, 10:00am to 11:30am, starting at Oppenheimer Park. The 'Somei-yoshino' and 'Akebono' trees in the park should be looking splendid on that day.

 

I think we're not going to be in luck for Sunday's walk with the 'Accolade' trees, but Kate Gerson has sent along a photo of the 'Akebono' in Oppenheimer Park. They'll be perfect. You can sort of see the 'Somei-yoshino' in the background.

 

Union bike path

11 days to Bike the Blossoms and the Union bikeway already has a nice display of pink blossoms.