Kitsilano

On March 20th 2024, three Akebono trees on Vine street between 1st and 2nd are starting to bloom. It was a bit cloudy, but great view of the ocean & mountain especially when the weather is nice and a little picnic spot?

 

Akebono blooming in KitsPoint—these ones on McNicoll near Chestnut, and on Creelman near Chestnut.

 

I made a quick stop on Arbutus at Kits Point to see the Oshima-zakura, and I was rewarded to see it in bloom now.


Very close by are 'Akebono' pictured on the left and 'Somei-yoshino' on the right. The 'Somei-yoshino' seems a little behind in blooming - it normally should be ahead of 'Akebono' by a few days. It was not great photo weather. Mostly I'm posting these to point them out to @Yumi A, our very welcome new Cherry Scout.

 

Star quality at Museum of Vancouver in Vanier park.
Four ‘Stellata’ blooming now- 2 of them in good shape, two suffering from brown rot.

 

On Balaclava, north of 6th there are very nice street trees. ‘Afterglow’ on the west, ‘Akebono’ on the east. And Hornbeam in the north.

 

Beautiful blue sky today, and Akebono in full bloom in Vanier Park. A few large trees at the back of museum all blooming, gorgeous view!
.
The one at Chestnut Street, near a pond.

And star cherry trees blooming near the Planetarium, as posted by Willard yesterday,

 

‘Shirotae’ blooming now on 1st, west of Burrard.

 

Two ‘Tai-haku’ blooming now at Seaforth Peace Park.

 

‘Oshima’ blooming now on Arbutus next to Kits Tennis courts.


Just look at that trunk.

 

The festival favourite ‘Akebono’ on Cornwall and Yew attracting attention this morning.

 

Here is a 'Shirotae' on Bayswater at 4th Ave. that should be beautiful but is not, as so much of it is rootstock growth, and a lot of it too.


But I have never seen flowers this beautiful on a 'Shirotae'. I suppose it could be something else, but I don't think so. I'm guessing that with the warm weather, the flowers have opened before the buds even had a chance to lighten up, giving the flowers a lot more colour interest than is usual. Also, I had been using an old camera for the past two weeks, so my phone maybe thought it had better up its act. I've never had nine photos in a row in focus before, or ten if you count the avium buds above.

 

I put this on the map as 'Akebono', but today I "discovered" it thinking it was the first time we'd met, and I think it's 'Somei-yoshino':

• It seems to not be grafted
• Flowers are more white than 'Akebono' are in the area around there
• Flowers seemed smaller and flatter than on 'Akebono'
• Stars from the front are large 'Somei-yoshino' size
• Pedicels are tending toward fuzzy-hairy
• No petaloids were seen
• Shape seems more like 'Somei-yoshino'

I was surprised to see several cauliflorous-seeming clumps of flowers.

 

These trees have been posted already, but today passed by Shirotae? (west of Burrard, on 1st) , a bit past peak but forming a little white “tunnel” with faint but nice scent.


And Taihaku? still blooming along Burrard, on Seaforth Peace Park.

 

There’s a row of Kanzan on 2nd avenue, east of Burrard, just starting to bloom but a bit early. This small tree on the left side is a pink and white two-tone tree. According to Wendy, the white one is Prunus avium, sweet cherry, onto which a Kanzan was grafted. Stands out and pretty, against a bright blue sky!


‘Mikuruma-gaeshi’ on McNicoll street. This one looks a bit like a bonsai, but means “the royal carriage returns”, an elegant name.

 

It occurs to me that the single 'Hosokawa-nioi' that was between a pair of Tai-haku' there, right next to one in the photograph (and that died a few years ago after declining in health for many years), was possibly the result of a nursery mix up. The two cultivars would be difficult to differentiate in youth, and I wonder if similar aged plantings of 'Tai-haku' might be hiding more 'Hosokawa-nioi'. That would be a fortunate thing, as that was the only example anyone (that we know) has identified in Metro Vancouver. Sadly, it is a cultivar that resisted all of our attempts at propagation. I assume the trees were planted around the time the park opened in 1949, so if anyone is keen to find another Hosokawa, look for similar-sized 75-year-old trees. Images are from 2010. Note the petaloids (incomplete petals) and a lovely almond scent.

 

If 'Hosokawa-nioi' are hiding among 'Tai-haku' they should be easy to find (if one is seeking it out) by the fragrance. That's less the case if it's hiding among 'Washi-no-o', unless it's behaving with its blooming time and opening its flowers later. I'll tell the scouts to investigate all trees growing with groups of both those cultivars.

 

Kanzan starting to bloom all over Vancouver, it seems. These three trees right by the Kitsilano Pool are not full bloom yet, but looking beautiful today with ocean and blue sky in the background.

 

Yew street looking bright and festive yesterday, a sunny Sunday, with Kanzan almost in full bloom.


A two-tone tree on 3rd and Yew. Kanzan and Prunus avium? (I’m not sure). Rhododendron starting to bloom at the base.

 

Yes. Good two-tone!

 

@Anne Eng 's posting of 'Shogetsu' in Kerrisdale reminded me of the 'Shogetsu' tree on Maple at 14th, which reminded me of the 'Kiku-zakura' trees on Maple at 14th. It turns out I haven't missed them - they're just about in bloom now, and the buds are so awesome anyway.


Here's the 'Shogetsu', with its flowers still looking very fresh, though in most places its flowers opened at least a week before 'Kiku-zakura'.


The 'Akebono' I wondered about in a previous posting could still use a visit when it's in bloom.


There's a tree sort-of around the corner, at 2055 W. 14th that has deteriorated considerably since it was first posted for ID at Identification: - Late Season Double-white | UBC Botanical Garden Forums. I'll post most of this year's photos there.