The three trees of 'Shirotae' at VanDusen's Autumn Stroll/Gate 6 area, are in full bloom at April 4, 2024. It was too much to ask them to hold off for another week and appear during Sakura Days.
VanDusen's 'Ukon' tree on the Autumn Stroll/Gate 6 area, is not at full bloom on April 4, 2024. 'Ukon' actually looks better as it ages; its component red, green and off-white colours make for interesting shadings. Here is what this 'Ukon' looked like last year, at April 30, 2023. Let's hope it ages well for this year's Sakura Days.
That's interesting because it's the same tree, with last year's flowers looking almost single with some petaloids, and this year looking even more full than semi-double. @Acerholic posted flowers from a 'Shirotae' near him in England (also known as Mt. Fuji Cherry) with flowers that look single with just one petaloid: https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/a-world-of-cherry-blossoms.97767/page-6#post-442307. Usually, we see 'Shirotae' flowers with enough petals to look at least semi-double, and sometimes full enough to confuse it with later-blooming double-whites. How are we supposed to learn to identify these things when we can't rely on them looking like their pictures?! [Edited 2024-apr-07] I have removed my last couple of sentences, as the world has changed since I wrote them and they no longer apply.
VanDusen has planted two 'Ojochin' trees! One to each side of the Great Lawn, in the David Lam Cherry Grove, they are in full bloom at April 9, 2024. The two other locations for this sato-zakura is the Japanese war memorial site in Stanley Park, and Nitobe Gardens, UBC. For the new VanDusen location, head up the Great Lawn from the garden entrance; this one below will be on the left side of the path. It shows a "bristle-tipped marginal" leaf, as well as a large, "inflated," pink-tinged flower bud hanging down–like a lantern–which gives it the Ō-jōchin (large lantern) name. On the right side of the path, this 'Ojochin' has only two flowers; its leaves show the bronzy young-leaf colour and a silhouette of those bristled-edged leaves. A rare sato-zakura from 17th century Japan—a special treat for this year's Sakura Days visitors, if only we could trust them to behave themselves and keep a respectful distance from the new (vulnerable) plantings.
And the Wharton Cherry Grove next to the parking lot at UBCBG, three trees. I thought we had some question about the one at Nitobe, though I can't remember if there is a young one, can't look it up right now.
The Autumn Stroll area (east side of Service Gate 6) of VanDusen has major blooms of ornamental cherries going at April 19, 2024. Avium Plena stands in front of 'Ukon' and 'Kanzan.' The 'Ukon' made it for Sakura Days, and even a week later, is still looking well. The 'Kanzan' was one of the early plantings in the garden (1979), as can be deduced from the declining condition of its bark. The bubble-gum floral colour has mellowed into a more tolerable pink, and in the last photo, it almost has the 'Pink Perfection' look of its hybrid.
