New cultivars for our West Vancouver map! I was very surprised and excited to see this lovely Pandora at the Ambleside Beach Cafe. Here is a 'Somei-yoshino' on Bellevue at 21st Street, with an 'Akebono' in the background. And about a hundred not all that attractive grafted-looking very young 'Somei-yoshino' in the Park Royal North and South parking lots, at the west end of each lot. They didn't even leave any tags so people would know what they are. It used to be, and I've even said earlier in this thread, that 'Akebono' were grafted and 'Somei-yoshino' were not, and we could be pretty certain that young trees that looked like one of those would be 'Akebono'. Now that's flipped. We're seeing ungrafted young 'Akebono' trees, and lots of young grafted 'Somei-yoshino'. It makes no sense - they're not all that healthy to begin with, and surely the grafting isn't going to help any. And they're both supposed to be easy to start as cuttings. I can see that beautifully spreading trees are not what's needed in a parking lot. Then it would make more sense to plant 'Rancho', or maybe fastigiate maples.
New 'Akebono' locations for our West Van map. This row is just to the east of the Ferry Building Gallery at 1414 Argyle. Hollyburn House runs from 20th to 21st on the north side of Marine Drive. There are 'Akebono' at both ends. This tree is a on Marine Drive at the NW corner of 16th Street. I don't know if it has appeared here, but it's not on the map, and it's attractive at an easily visible location, so I'll add it.
Here are a few trees that have appeared before. I checked them out to check the blooming time; surprising to me, it seems exactly the same as in the West End. I thought over here near the mountains would be later blooming times, but down near the water, they're charging ahead. 'Akebono' on 18th Street, Ambleside Lane to Bellevue. 'Akebono' 18th at the lane above Marine Dr, outside the Legion, four trees. 'Beni-shidare' 1363 Clyde at 14th Street. Several trimmed trees.
Two stately Akebonos in Memorial Park on north side of Marine Drive between 19 and 20 Street. Note the two plaques, one at the base of each tree.
Large Yae-beni-shidare in its prime on Taylor Way. Just south of Stevens Dr on east side of Taylor Way. Loaded with blossoms.
The quadruple row of Kanzans on Taylor Way, north of Highway 1 are beginning to bloom. Should be awesome in a few days.
Nicely shaped middle-aged Shirofugen at Hollyburn House Retirement Residence, north side of Marine Drive at 21 St.
Yes, this photo was taken on May 10, 1981 long before I moved to Vancouver and became a Cherry Scout.
These five 'Akebono' are suffering from the redevelopment on 14St south of Marine Drive. At least someone is trying to save them. They are what is left of a beautiful double lane of 'Akebono' on that 14 St sidewalk between Marine Drive and Bellevue. Nothing stays the same. Check out posting #20.
One of the few places you can still see 'Kanzan' in prime condition (with copper-colored leaves) is Taylor Way. Four rows.
The Magnificent Seven....'Shiro-fugen' At Ambleside located on Argyle and 14th. Thanks to Wendy's friend for alerting us to this beautiful grove of seven established 'Shiro-fugen'.
The 'Kanzan' around Park Royal South were posted several years ago. There are really a lot of them, though they are quite small (sort of ungainly over-grafted trees that look like they will not ever amount to much, except for a few, like in the first two photos). But they make up for that in numbers, planted along Marine Drive and everywhere around the parking lot. We had the intent to inspect the last one, with leaves that seemed more green then the others, which got me excited, but up close it was clearly a 'Kanzan', so we didn't stop to inspect it more closely. I can see now that the lighter green leaves are from the rootstock. Several 'Kanzan' at the Capilano River RV Park are visible from the road near the entrance to the Lion's Gate Bridge.
Spontaneous cherry scouting. Quick trip to West Vancouver this afternoon. Enjoyed viewing the seven mature 'Shiro-fugen' at 14th and Bellevue.
Oh cool - @Willard left me an opening for a blossom photo from these trees above, near the Ferry Building gallery. Note her last photo above with the local icons - Burrard Inlet and and the Lion's Gate Bridge - that's the one I'll use on the festival Blooming Now - Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival page.
"Frank" is proud of his beautiful young 'Shirotae' and added it to the festival map, so I went to check it out - at 1128 Hillside Road - west of Highland Drive.
20200222 Okame SENelson22AveWestVan Willard IMG_5181 by Willard posted Feb 22, 2020 at 1:27 PM Thanks to Douglas Justice and Wendy Cutler for the heads-up on these beautiful 'Okame' in West Vancouver. Four trees in full bloom and full of birds, too. Anna's Hummingbirds and Bushtits. Best 'Okame' I've seen anywhere. On southeast corner of Nelson and 22 Street.
I'm amazed Shirley captured that hummingbird. You can click the arrows at the bottom right to see the video full-screen. I'm attaching two more photos, one to show that these trees are low-grafted. Maybe that makes them healthier as well as more attractive than most of this cultivar seen around here. I was left to get back home on my own, was pleased to come across this 'Whitcomb' tree in a front yard on The Village Walk, at what would really be Esquimalt at 19th, north of Memorial Park.