Cherry blossoms this year

After our unusually severe winter, will the cherry trees blossom later than usual? I have relatives from Alberta who want to plan a visit to Vancouver to coincide with the cherry blossoms. Last time they were here, two years ago, at the end of February, cherries were blossoming, but that was an unusually warm winter. And I remember one year, perhaps the same one, when the blossoms were almost gone by the time of the Cherry Blossom Festival!

 

Well we think they will be later this year. I was expecting the dates to be similar to the postings from 2009 in the VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs, as that was a cold year. Burrard Station 'Akebono' were in bloom on April 12, and very shortly after, a lot of other cultivars were in bloom as well. But I'm still not touching the dates on the map, as it's not a sure thing. The early 'Whitcomb' cherries in the West End were almost ready to open, about the same early timing as last year, but then it got cold and snowed again. But next week is supposed to be above 10 degrees, so they still might pop early. I'm not sure what's happening in the rest of the city and what effect warm weather now will have on the later cultivars. I would expect mid-April to be pretty safe to see something.

 

Thanks for your response - I will let my family know.

 

As a tease or prelude of what's to come, there were a few blossoms on a tree outside the Vancouver Lawn Tennis & Badminton Club on West 15th Ave. I didn't look closely to see whether it was a cherry or plum tree though.

 

Thank you!

 

Plums are not out yet at all, though I did see some pink buds last week. 'Autumnalis Rosea', 'Whitcomb' and 'Accolade' do teaser blossoms starting in December, so this doesn't really mean these will be in bloom soon.

I have posted these two (!) 'Accolade' cherry trees in the Fairview Neighbourhood Blog, the first of that cultivar found in this neighbourhood.
@Junglekeeper, that was good scouting! If you'd posted a photo, that could have saved me the trip. You are of course welcome (urged, actually) to add to our data by posting cherries you come across. They might already be on our map, so you can get the ID, or we can tell you. If you don't know what neighbourhood, you can look up the Vancouver map here: Scout Corner - Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival.

@sunshade, I have done a very coarse update of the festival map at Neighbourhood Maps - Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, moving blooming dates back by a month. I changed the dates all at one time, so some of them will be clearly way off. I'll try to refine them in the next week, which of course doesn't mean that I will have any better insider info.

 

@wcutler, I see you've posted the location of the tree(s) in the Fairview thread. I assume then that you've also added them to the appropriate map.

 

Yes, and I needed to approve it, but was waiting to be sure I would get notified of the Add. I've gone ahead and approved it now, so if you look for Accolade in Fairview on the map (or Search Fairview and sort the list by clicking on the Cultivar column, you'll see it). Or just look on the map where you know it is.

You can add locations to the map too, but I like to also have forum postings for the markers so I can link to the photos. The locations won't show on the map until I approve them.

 

Thank you - I'll keep my eye on that map!

 

There's usually a cherry blossom festival every year! Definitely a great spot to check out if you like to see cherry blossoms at the time of year.