Hi, The Azalea ~ My mum used to grow these. They are orange azaleas, and they have the most beautiful scent. They were always amongst my favourites. They brought back happy memories this morning, as I took these photos in the Ted and Mary Greig Rhododendron Gardens near Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park, Vancouver. The Dogwood (assuming it is a dogwood) ~ The Incredible Melting Dogwood is dripping with white flowers, as though the blooms were all melting. It is a fantastic tree; just beautiful, and wonderfully weird. This tree is also at the rhododendron gardens. Do you know the names of these two gorgeous plants? Thank you.
The second one is Davidia involucrata, common names dove tree, handkerchief tree. It's not a dogwood, but it has a similar showy bract with the real flowers being much smaller structures in the centre. It was at one time in the same family with Dogwood, though Dogwood seems to be in its own family now. Davidia are being used quite a bit as street trees in Vancouver. Have a look at the leaves next time you see it - they're heart-shaped with an interesting veining design. You might be able to recognize them on the streets even when they're small and have no white bracts (so you'll know where to go find some next year around this time). There's also a very large nice Davidia in Queen Elizabeth Park on the path down into the quarry (and another one on the other side at the top of the quarry).
@Wendy, thank you. This tree was a real surprise. Even a few cyclists were acknowledging its strange, beautiful appearance as they drifted past. I looked it up after you supplied the ID, and I think I like "Ghost Tree" as its best name. "Handkerchief Tree" is accurate, except I don't think such an elegant creation of nature is going to be very pleased with the association of a human handkerchief. I think this tree has become immediately a favourite of mine. (Like the wing-nut tree on Chilco and Comox, which surely you've seen. I'll see about getting a photo of that one soon. I think it's very very rare here.) ___________________ @Ron B, it is a pungent scent. In downtown Vancouver our skunkiest odours derive usually from marijuana, Striped Skunks, and Yellow Arum, in about that descending order of frequency. I kind of like thinking of this is as Mollis azalea. Mollis simply goes with it. It's an unassuming, just-there, Mollis sort of thing; and I think it is exquisitely beautiful. In following the name on the web, I noticed these plants have likely been extremely altered through hybridization. Apparently gardeners refer to them as azaleas whilst they are technically rhododendrons—or are all azaleas technically rhododendrons? I love the entire group (rhodos et al) and of course these and magnolias are the creatures which make Vancouver look so pretty in April and May. Thanks again, Wendy and Ron, for supplying identification. Hm. Azalea mollis var. skunkianis. Indeed. ;-)
Grooonx7, it's ok, I know the Caucasian Wingnut on Comox. There's one in Maple Grove Park and one at UBC in the old arboretum. I haven't checked whether the two on University Blvd west of Main Mall are still there. One location for young Davidia is Alberni west of Denman, north side of the street, running almost the two blocks to the park.
Wendy, your picture of the whole tree is a very good photo. That wingnut is a beautiful tree, but we need our three-dimensional eyesight to appreciate it. It's not an easy subject for two-dimensional photos. You've done well to stand way back (pretty much outside the apartment which was my home for four years) and to get the picture from that end of the block. Years ago I spoke with the building manager who has the task of cleaning up under the wingnut tree. I think he appreciated the tree, despite its giving him so much work. I checked with the Parks Board at that time—probably it was in the 1990s—and the fellow in charge of the trees inventory looked it up on the index they'd had prepared. He said it was a good thing he did, as until then the tree's existence was acknowledged but it was wrongly listed as a very common tree—I forget what; something that bore no resemblance—which wouldn't have received any special protection.
