New reference booklet: Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver

Douglas Justice's new booklet, Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver, was initially produced to help Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival volunteers (VCBF 'Cherry Scouts') "tackle the sometimes confusing job of identifying cherry cultivars around Vancouver".

Douglas's introduction goes on to say: "The Cherry Scouts were guinea pigs in the sense that the Festival needed to know whether civic-minded people who were keen, but without formal training, could 1) distinguish flowering cherries from Vancouver's extensive collection of similar flowering trees...; 2) successfully identify actual types of ornamental cherry trees...; and 3) document with photographs and notes the flowering sequence of the cherry trees in their neighbourhoods. Thankfully, the Cherry Scouts were willing and the program has been an unqualified success. The original guide, it appears, was a valuable tool."

The revised edition of this booklet that the scouts lived with so steadily, is available to the public this year, at the UBC Shop in the Garden and at VanDusen's Garden Shop. It's a fund-raiser for the VCBF, and is priced at only $15.

The booklet contains a description with tree and blossom photo for 35 of Vancouver's ornamental cherry cultivars. Here's a picture of the cover and a sample cultivar spread:

 

It's four and half years later, and two editions later. I see I missed one minor new edition, and now there's a major update to the book - an additional 19 cultivars, bringing the total to 54 different varieties of flowering cherry trees that can be found in Vancouver neighbourhoods. It's now $25, soon to be at local shops. For ordering details and info about the November 26, 2013 book launch, see
http://www.vcbf.ca/community_event/ornamental-cherries-book-launch.
After November 26, 2013, see
http://vcbf.ca/education/field-guide