@wcutler here editing Anne Eng's posting originally posted at https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/shaughnessy.36222/page-12#post-442499. I will comment in a separate posting below. 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.
I find that 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. Here is a 'Shirotae' photo posted by Anne Eng just before her 'Ukon' posting in the Shaughnessy thread. I suppose it's possible that Acerholic's tree could be some other fragrant cherry - I think we gave him the name before we saw the flower details. I have to edit this - I had a whole paragraph about a somewhat similar thing happening with a tree labelled 'Ito-kukuri' at the UBCBG Wharton Cherry Grove, but I didn't read Douglas Justice's blog carefully enough - he now refers to the trio of 'Ojochin' where there had been two with that name, though the label on the no-longer called 'Ito-kukuri' has not yet been changed. Well, it was that third tree looking so different that got me started on this thread.
