I'll just post two photos, and then maybe Nadia will take over this thread - I have to go out now. Here are Akebia quinata 'Rosea' and Akebia quinata 'Shirobana'. I love seeing in the flowers miniature versions of what the fruits will look like.
I was very excited about flowers of Staphylea holocarpa var. rosea in Asian garden near the office and flowers of Ilex fargesii, the plant is native to Birma & China but the winner was Rhododendron scabrifolium var. spiciferum from Alpine garden
A Great White welcome to UBC Botanical Garden - the 'Tai Haku' cherries outside the garden entrance were in almost full bloom yesterday. Here's my yellow on dark background series: Sorbus megalocarpa, Umbellularia californica, Cercidiphyllum japonicum 'Morioka Weeping' (ok, not flowers), and Acer sterculiaceum Ssp. franchetii. Segueing to maple flowers (and red), this is Acer japonicum 'O-isami' and A. japonicum 'Aconitifolium'. Magnolias are still a knock-out. Yesterday, most of the large-flowered ones were M. sargentiana. This one is across from the moon gate, on the Asian side. And M. sprengeri 'Eric Savill', near the gazebo on the board walk. This isn't a flower either - Stewartia sinensis. Here's one we're waiting for: Helwingia japonica.
The one magnolia would be M. sargentiana var. robusta, the typical species is different and seldom-grown, probably not in the UBCBG collections. Paintings and descriptions of both are in Johnstone, Asiatic Magnolias in Cultivation - if you like these trees you will want to have a look at his illustrations anyway, as they are quite something.
