Appreciation: A world of cherry blossoms

This I did expect from a botanist, lol. My friend is just the same and I fully respect and understand where you are coming from. But it is good we have both sides on the forum, thanks for the reply on this Ron.
Very interesting your comments on Spire in Seattle area. This is where reccomendations across continents etc should be guarded, or given with a warning that what works in one area etc etc........

 

C'mon, that 'Spire' you posted is not a beautiful tree. Unless for cherries it's like with babies, that they're all beautiful. But it is way nicer-looking than what we see for that cultivar here, but that's because here they're grafted onto avium poles that are now twice the diameter of the scion. So they look ridiculous, and they're diseased as well.

 

What is they say, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. It sounds like the Spire over there is not very good at all listening to you and Ron, but it does OK here and I will put it on my local data base I'm putting together. I will put a marker on it though for the info you and Ron have given, as it is very interesting.

 

Some flowering Prunus in "Parc Pasteur" :



From a distance I thought it was a Prunus, but this one must be a flowering apple :



That one is probably Prunus serrulata (Accolade ?). BTW, in French, "accolade" means "an embrace", like when friendly heads of state meet. Except the queen, and kings, and the pope of course, you don't give a hug to these people. Sometimes they get their heads cut off, but no hugs.



a... ?

 

I took these photos a few minutes ago of Cherries along the next road to me. 25 yds as the crow flies from my house.
There are 8 exactly the same planted sometime in the late 70's along this road, they are no older, as I was here in 1970 as the local copse made way for housing and they had not been planted then.
Again I am posting these as Prunus ??? And I'm certain that @wcutler and @Ron B will give me the exact type for my local Cherry tree record that I am compiling for this thread in the coming years.
The local authority have been near to useless in giving an ID once again.
Hope you enjoy them, even though they are nowhere near as good as those shown on the VCBF threads.

 

They are Prunus : in France too, most of these flowering Prunus are often called "cerisiers du Japon", even if some of them I'm sure could better fit in the "plum" family.

 

I can't see the blossom photo all that well, but it looks like 'Tai-haku', the one that Collingwood Ingram took back to Japan from England after it had died out there. Are the flowers large (2.5-3.0 in diameter) and the new leaves quite bronze?

 

Thanks Alain, I did know they are Prunus, perhaps I didn't make myself clear enough with the question marks; Sorry. It is the variety I really want to know. There seem to be a lot of hybrids around my area, which is making things a little difficult on ID.

 

Thanks Wendy, if it is Tai haku that will be very special, as they are only in the road next to me. Not seen them anywhere else around here. The size of the flower is about 2.5 -3 and the leaves are a mixture of bronze/ green.

 

At last my wife and I favourite Cherry is out, Prunus shirotae 'Mount Fuji'. The scent from the blossom is almost over powering.

 

I don't know if that counts : Prunus triloba 'Alba'.
The pink variety is more common, I also had one but it died a couple of years ago.

 

I know it's a Cherry-almond, but as this is our thread, then why not.

 

Here is one in my road that I would appreciate an ID for. The blossom although it seems very white, is actually a deep cream colour.
It is an elderly tree so might not be around too many more years, so I wanted to have it here for posterity.
Any ideas Wendy @wcutler ? My thoughts are of Prunus Gyoiko or Ukon ??

 

'Ukon'. There may be some greenish bits, but it's definitely in range for this. 'Gyoiko' has more green, particularly in photos, blooms a bit later, and is very rare, at least outside Japan. Your bloom times for this year seem very similar to ours.

I should mention that the festival has a page with a blossom photo for the cultivars in our book:
Cherry Cultivars - Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (vcbf.ca)

 

Thankyou Wendy, I knew you would know and the link is perfect. Ukon it is... That's another in my Cherry log. No pun intended, lol.

 

After cherry blossoms, cherries.

Prunus avium 'Napoleon'. Kilos of cherries to pick in a few weeks :



I also have wild cherries, the sour ones that are best for "clafoutis" :

Pancake base (see for instance : )

Hmmmm... I like the flowers, I love the cherries ;-)

 

And I love calfoutis. :)
My friend makes them with more fruit, less egg than is shown here. At least that's what I remember. It's been over a year since I've had one. :(

 

We are sat here salivating at the thought. Think we will try that recipe, thanks Alain.

 

Good morning, a short walk to our local shops and this Prunus x yedoensis Akebono Cherry, helped cover some rather unattractive offices. The flowers are typically fading to white now, but still have enough pink to look pretty from afar.


Edit 1. As per Wendy's ID, this is now being changed to Prunus 'Ichiyo .

 

Not 'Akebono'. The flowers were pink? Maybe 'Ichiyo'.

 

Thanks Wendy, I did look at that one, but my thoughts were the timing of the blossom. But if you think it's 'Ichiyo', then Ichiyo it is.

 

Another very popular traditional recipe is "far breton" : the base is about the same, like for clafoutis, the batter is a bit thicker than for "crêpes" and instead of using cherries, you use prunes (dried plums). Since prunes are available all-year long, you can make it any time. Some people let them soak in rhum for a few hours.
And I suppose that "modern cooks" can adapt it to a lot of different fruit, as long as they are sweet enough - lemon won't do, I think ;-)

Sorry, a bit off-topic again, this thread is not about world cuisine ! ^_^

 

Unless Japanese sakura cuisine. ^_^ Sakura Mochi (Cherry Blossom Sweet Rice Cakes) Recipe (thespruceeats.com)

 

;°)

Not to mention maples : there are traditional Japanese recipes with maples leaves. I had links somewhere, but even I found them again (I never tried a recipe), that would lead us far from the topic...

 

A few minutes ago in my garden, with a lovely blue sky and lots of bright sunshine, my Prunus 'Amanogawa', opened up with lovely blossom for 2021 and this was after another overnight frost.
Only a few atm, but I'm very happy to see these few.