West End / Stanley Park

Some lovely Takasago's we saw on Bill Stephens very informative walk on Sunday March 29.....in the rain,
In the reverse photo, there may be an extra sepal, but the calyx tube may be hiding that 6th sepal.

 

more photos from Bill Stephens walk on Sunday March 29. These are of the lovely Ojochin 'Big Lantern Cherry' or 'Large Paper Lantern Cherry at the Japanese WW1 memorial. This may be the only Ojochin in Vancouver. You can see the very long, narrow sepals on the reverse photo. The poor tree has been bolted together at the base to try to keep it from leaning to far and so far it seems to be working. At Douglas's blossom talk the other night he said this cherry would have come to Vancouver in the 1930's as gifts from the Mayors of Kobe and Yokohama. This cultivar dates to the 1600's in Japan.

 

Wendy said these were Shirofugen, located close to the mini train in Stanely park. They are not out, yet but last Sunday they were quite nice in the rain. The entire tree had an overall reddish effect with the strong horizontal branching characteristic of Shriofugen.

 

The 'Shogetsu' in the lane behind London Drugs on Davie is close to being in full bloom today. Checking with Wendy, I do have the right name--I find it difficult to distinguish this cultivar from 'Shirofugen'. The defining feature seems to be 'Shogetsu' has emerging green leaves. It is a mystery to me why anyone would choose this site to plant three different trees in a row. There's a Korean Hill Cherry, then this 'Shogetsu' and furthest, towards Bidwell, a sweet cherry which might have spent some of its life with a graft making it some other cultivar. Just a little way towards Davie from the mini-park at the entrance to an apartment building are two 'Ichoyo' which are in prime condition today. I will search a photo if no-one else posts them.

 

Our fearless leaders. A good time was had by all.
Great walk in the West End on Easter Sunday.

 

"There is no stranger under the cherry tree." It is in fact our chief scout, Wendy Cutler, who can't decide which is her favourite tree. Maybe today it was Gyoiko which is in peak ostentation with full blossoms, buds and a very delicate sprinkling of petals on the ground.

 

The Autumnalis Rosea trees near Lost Lagoon are still producing flowers. It seems to have been happening since last October. The flowers may be small (and in this case out of focus because they are rather high) but they are delicate and pale pink. They are little stars on the branches.

 

The old Ojochin at the Japanese War Memorial in Stanley Park is hanging in there.

 

Nice grove of Shirofugen trees east of the Easter Train in Stanley Park. Beginning to blossom.

 

As Bute Street curves around onto Pendrell, there is an interesting Kanzan that appears to me to be grafted onto Birch Bark Cherry rootstock. The final picture shows the common rootstock which I believe is mazzard (Prunus avium) but of course I will be happy to be corrected.

I'd be interested in knowing where there are other trees grafted onto Birch Bark Cherry. I know of an Okame on 2nd Ave in Kits and I think there is some other cultivar on the walk just east of the Bayshore in Coal Harbour.

 

Really, when A.E. Housman wrote "Loveliest of trees the cherry now" he must have envisioned this Shirofugen on Thurlow at Beach. Across the road in the park leading down to Sunset Beach are two more Shirofugen not quite as advanced in their blooming. Amazingly, around the corner, on the north side of Beach, one can still find flowers and buds (see the final picture) on the Accolade trees.

 

Mature Avium Plena on south side of Pendrell, east of Denman.
In full bloom.

 

Grove of Shirofugen trees east of Easter Train in Stanley Park. At their peak.

 

Don't think this late blooming Kanzan has been posted before. It's in the Davie Community Garden at the corner of Davie and Burrard. I've watched it and meant to get a picture for days and yesterday between rain showers and before all the petals fell, managed some shots of this young, carefully tended, lovely tree. (Today there were very few blossoms so these pictures were just in time....). By the way, the gardens there are impressive and the Rosemary blooms extraordinary right now

 

Look WAY UP !

 

@Willard didn't tell the story of finding me out on the street and trying to convince me that the 'Accolade' cherries at the Chilco mini-park had flowers on them. So she dragged me over there (I was quite willing to see them, actually), and sure enough, there they were, just on one of the trees. I'm pretty sure this is the earliest I've seen 'Accolade' flowers. Usually we start seeing some blossoms in January, or maybe just a few in December; I think one year was November. I never would have thought to look for them now.

So I refused Shirley's offer to take me back where she'd picked me up, and as I was walking to my destination, I found myself only a block from Lost Lagoon and wondering about our Cherry of the 10th Month. Sure enough, there are a lot of flowers on one of the 'Autumnalis Rosea' trees, a version of 'Jugatsu-zakura' at Lost Lagoon.


And on one of the 'Autumnalis Rosea' at the Nicola mini-park at Pendrell.


Not to be outdone, the 'Whitcomb' at Coal Harbour also has some flowers.

 

They are Accolade, aren't they? Does Accolade bloom in autumn in Vancouver, too?
If they are Accolade, it’s a great discovery.
It is said that accolade blooms twice a year in Japan, in spring and in autumn.
But unfortunately I haven't seen autumn Accolade in Japan yet.
There aren't so many Accolades in Tokyo. I found two trees on website. I'll check them tomorrow.

 

Yes, they are Accolade. Wendy Cutler and I both saw the flowers today. It was quite exciting.

 

Autumnalis Rosea starting to bloom on south side of Pacific between Bute and Jervis.

 

Two more Autumnalis Rosea trees blooming on north side of Pacific, west of Burrard.

 

Birthday Blossoms!

Well, the festival is promoting the sale of trees to celebrate its "10th Anniversary Birthday Blossoms Tree Planting Program" (10th Anniversary Birthday Blossoms Tree Planting Program | Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival), but these are my birthday blossoms. I returned to Vancouver to see lots of 'Whitcomb' flowers out on the trees on Nelson at Bute. Buds are red, but there is hardly any colour yet from a distance.

 

Whitcomb in bloom and bud at Coal Harbour. A rainy January day in Vancouver...with cherry blossoms.

 

Nice pair of Whitcomb trees on Nicola Street north of Beach Avenue

 

Whitcombs at Nicola Mini Park

 

What's left of a magnificent old Whitcomb on northeast corner of Nelson and Bute.