First lame photos of 'Akebono' flowers at Burrard Station! This is a yearly tradition for me. The photos don't seem to ever really improve. All the trees here have deep pink buds. The next stage will be for them to lighten to pale pink. Here is my chart of days from first flowers to peak bloom. It varies quite a bit, depending on the temperature. The 14-day forecast is for all days to stay under 10 C degrees. Still, I will be surprised if the flowers are not open by March 27. Last year they opened very quickly, as the temperatures had been significantly above 10 degrees, cooling down to near 10, if I understand correctly what I posted. Edited March 25, 2020: I have replaced the chart to show the 2020 blooming date of March 25.
I agree with Wendy. The Akebono buds at Burrard are very advanced and flowers should be opening very soon (within about 10 days). Most trees have only buds: But you'll find that some trees at the front (which are most exposed to the sun) have a few blossoms already:
Four days on from the previous posting, the Burrard Station trees are not "open", but they're coming along right to Jessica's prediction, with a lot more open flowers today. This is a lovely stage for the flowers, when the buds are pink and the open flowers have a lot of variation in colour.
In this dismal time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cherry blossoms are providing some positive contrast. This nice little row of akebono's by Jardines Lookout, Lupo Restaurant, the Firehall and the VPL central library is gradually revealing itself for another year. For this years photos, here is a series of photos from the past few days showing its evolution from a very unimpressive lot of pink buds on spindly branches that were left from the pruning into hopefully the usual splendor.
The Akebono by Coopers Park are blossoming nicely now (well ahead of others in the area further west into David Lam Park - those are a few days behind).
I'm sure Burrard Station trees used to be the first to bloom, but I'm surprised this year how many 'Akebono' around are a little ahead of those. Or maybe right up with them. It's interesting to see the day-by-day series, with the dates on the photo names.
Burrard Station 'Akebono' are OPEN. And so few pesky people looking at them. :( I hope in a few years that we can forget why that was. The official name is Art Phillips Park. Not too far from here, on Hastings at Hornby, is a nice allee planted with 'Akebono' (and a nice chocolate shop). The second photo tree is at the end of that area, at Cordova. These 'Akebono' are at Granville Square. This sort-of private park has two entrances on Pender between Jervis and Broughton. I suspect it really was required by the city to be public space. Some of the gates have been left open, I think so people don't have to touch them to enter.
I have seen a few open flowers on 'Shirotae' in the West End and Fairview (but not Stanley Park), but two of the five trees on Burrard at Joey's, across from the Sutton Place Hotel, have a lot of open flowers. Across the street (really should be posted in the West End neighbourhood), the five 'Shirotae' have just a few blossoms.
The 100 Akebono in and around David Lam Park are looking pretty good - note the rapid progression from a single blossom to the nice display a week later (update: everything in full blossom for Palm Sunday!)
I look forward to seeing these old Shirotae struggle on and while from afar, the branches look bare, every bud it has is fully blossomed now with leaves now there too. Catch it while you can. Well it seems that they had more to show than I thought last week and are putting on a decent showing although I still find the branches a bit bare.
It seems that this little Rancho installed back in 2014 by the once home to four Car2Go vehicles has outlasted that operation although it's partner around the corner does not seem to have. The old Shirotae at Helmcken Park and couple of Akebono at Yaletown House nearby hopefully provide inspiration (did you know that trees can communicate through their root networks per Hidden Life of Trees book?). OK both trees are still there but don't seem to be growing very fast after 6 years.
And yes, these now mature Akebono's are back in bloom on Seabreeze Walk / Cycling path Interesting to see that trees at this place and time of the season have been identified as Schmitt and Snofozam long ago. I assume those old trees were replaced and the Akebono replacements matured quickly with quite thick trunks. There are Kanzan on the south side of the path which will blossom later.
Schmitt cherries are (I think still are) interspersed with the 'Rancho' you can see in your photo across from these 'Akebono'. There was a single 'Snofozam' near a garage entrance that I think I remember is no longer there.
The blossoms in Andy Livingston park should be nice now. Here is a photo from Instagram of them in bud last week: Pat Singh Cheung on Instagram: “Printemps qui commence! Afternoon walk alone in the park while keeping a physical distance of 2 metres away from everyone. #chinatown…”
This public area between two buildings east of Denman on Georgia looks lovely now. If you walk through the middle and turn right on Bayshore Drive, you come at the dead end to another lovely landscaped area that is unfortunately private for the condos it belongs to. You can walk just a bit up the path to the right to see this horse sculpture. The trees have grown up enough now that you can see the horses with the trees as a backdrop, up close or from Georgia Street. There is no plaque with the sculptor's name, and I haven't been able to locate it on the internet.
The Ukon in the median between Pacific Blvd and Expo Blvd at Nelson are putting on quite a nice show and it might be worth the risk to pull down the face covering to enjoy their smells on this easter weekend. The nearby Helmcken Park Shirotae with the two street Rancho's are also still nicely in bloom. Beatty Mews Kanzen are in bud but need another week to fully blossom. The Akebono in the area are pretty much done. Note that there are four billboard exhibits for the Capture Photography festival also nearby on Expo Blvd just east of Roger's Arena as well as one on the Roundhouse Yaletown Canada Line station to the west off Pacific Blvd & Davie St. [QUOTE from 2018="yaletowner, post: 362743, member: 51762"]Time has taken its toll on this once spectacular grove of Ukon and now there is only 4 left and the bare branches of one that doesn't show any signs of life. The remaining ones are in full bloom though and are looking nice for the Sun Runners passing nearby in a few days.[/QUOTE]
I think we need to note that the Sun Runners quote is from 2018. There is not a Sun Run this year. It's interesting how good that 'Rancho' looks - more flowers out before the leaves.
The sunny mild weather has hastened the Beatty Mews Kanzan blossoms faster than I thought just 3 days ago as they are presenting quite a decent show today with many more buds yet to blossom. This about does it for the Yaletown cherry blossom season but neighbourhoods at higher elevations could continue for quite awhile yet. [April 14: Added a residents view from the overhead walkway] From 2019:
The stretch of old Kanzan along both sides of Dunsmuir from Richards to Seymour are nicely in blossom now and then there is a solitary Kanzan a block and half away up Richards just south of Robson.
In Yaletown, the little Kanzan trees across from the Capture Photography Festival display on the Canada Line station are getting big. In a few years, they might overwhelm the elevated walkway they now occupy. Meanwhile around the corner and up Davie St, the stretch of Kanzan on both sides between Homer and Richards are putting on a nice consistent display of pink blossoms.
