How many more 'Shiro-fugen' photos are we allowed to have here? @Willard posted photos at the Sechelt Visitor Centre a week ago, posting number #569. Leaves were bronze then, and the flowers were mostly white, with a little pink on the outermost petals. Today, April 26, the leaves are just turning green and the the flowers have gone pink. There are always some new white flowers in the mix, though. Here's a nice 'Shiro-fugen' on Franklin Road. Here is a 'Shiro-fugen' on Klahanie Rd off Sandy Hook Rd, which appears to be low-grafted and not pruned. We were surprised by the pendulous shape, but it's not so old yet. The 'Kanzan' at the bottom of the street had more of the horizontal branching that I expect to see on 'Shiro-fugen'.
@Willard posted this when it looked good in 2021, and last year, when she wrote: What we saw today were these 'Shirotae' suckers becoming a nice tree, and as many (or more) rootstock suckers. The 'Shirotae' root continues to the right, seen in the third photo in the posting above.
Wendy spotted these two beautiful ‘Kanzan’ from the car as we were driving along Francis Peninsula Road in Madeira Park. We met the owner who told us they were planted 32 years ago. Very healthy trees, minimally pruned.
Here are my photos of the location just above. There are two trees, though the second one is much lovelier, maybe the best-looking 'Kanzan' ever. I spotted it from across the water. It helps to have someone else doing the driving. The tree has only been pruned where it encroached on the deck. The next two photos show the trunk from two vantage points.
Power scouters in hi visi vests —- safety first - very wise :) (Photos above ) and an absolute delight to see our wonderful energetic Head Scout and equally dedicated @Willard very knowledgeable scout for informal rainforest hanami - complete with festive UBC - BG & VCBF blossom attire incl shoe charms — very exciting & thank you both. per suggestion - I went and checked Shirofugen on Franklin Road @ Cochrane Road in Gibsons - beautiful! does that qualify as a tree that looks like real cherry tree? https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/cherries-that-look-like-real-trees.90838/page-2 Proceeding from the beautiful display on Franklin Road … if your turn inland (north east) on Cochrane — there are several blossom trees planted in private lots tho visible from street then right ie turn east on Truman around the side entrance to Marina Place condo block - white blossoms then left to view the infamous Gibsons Haircut tree at bus stop entrance to Marina Place condos amazingly the sheared bus stop tree (close to marina and market parking) has quite a display of blossoms 2024 @Willard - this is name I was trying to remember during our conversation … Kojo No Mai … translates = flight of butterflies … Langdale ferry “twisted sisters”? https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/70924/prunus-incisa-kojo-no-mai/details
Another pair of ‘Kanzan’ spotted by Wendy from the passenger seat of a moving vehicle on King Rd, west of Fitchett.
I didn’t think there was anything special about this tree and refused to get out of the vehicle during the rain. Turns out there are ‘Shirotae’ blossoms to be viewed (not very many, though).
It was a "Royal Carriage Returns" moment - I said to Shirley "Stop! 'Shirotae'." Shirley said to me "No, it's a sweet cherry, we don't need to photograph that". She agreed to stop, and we found that it was both. There was more 'Shirotae' than Shirley thinks, but it was on the side away from the road. It's the innermost limb that remains from the 'Shirotae'. These are 'Shirotae' flowers. These are from the root stock, now most of the tree.
Nice ‘Shiro-fugen’ at the end of Rosamund Street in Gibsons. Thanks to owner for allowing us to examine the tree closely.
We began the afternoon with a 'Shirotae'/Prunus avium mix. The second photo shows 'Shirotae' flowers; next photo are Prunus avium flowers; last photo in this set is a good mix. Around the corner was a much easier to notice 'Kanzan'/Prunus avium mix. It was especially helpful that the disappearing cultivar had pink flowers, because there were just a very few clusters of them. In the last photo, Shirley held the 'Kanzan' branch down so it was easier to trace the two remaining 'Kanzan' shoots on which the pink flowers were hanging. Again, the 'Kanzan' trunk was completely surrounded by the root stock.
The posting I'm quoting is the same location as the 'Ama-no-gawa' trees Willard posted just above. This photo shows the three trees in the background that we could not identify last year, when I was favouring 'Somei-yoshino' as the ID. Today I just photographed the pedicels, which have very few hairs, which makes me think they would not be 'Somei-yoshino' and would have to be 'Akebono'. Also, the buds are a deeper pink colour than 'Somei-yoshino' seem to get. There has been at least one 'Akebono' fruit posted at https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc....ce-do-japanese-cherries-produce-fruits.73253/, so I can't use the presence of fruits here as a distinguishing feature. I understand these fruits might drop off before developing; the thread on fruits was only addressing whether the trees would get fruits started. These photos are from the three trees, west-to-east.
Here is a nice 'Shiro-fugen' on Sunnyside and Pratt. We're calling these 'Kanzan' trees on Sunnyside east of Clark "the twins", though one is much nicer looking than the other, but they form a nice arch over the driveway.
Good location to compare ‘Shiro-fugen’ (left) to ‘Kanzan’ (right) - at the end of Sunnyside Rd in Gibsons.
@Georgia Strait posted some photos here from Prince Rupert. I have created a new thread at Northern BC Coast | UBC Botanical Garden Forums and have moved the posting there.
