Victoria, BC (on Vancouver Island)

Well, eight years have past since I posted this 'Shirofugen' at Victoria City Hall - see posting #38.
Tree was planted by the mayor of Morioka, Japan on May 25, 1985 - to commemorate the twinning of the two cities Victoria and Morioka.

Still standing, with a little protection.
First stop on the power cherry scouting trip to Victoria with Wendy - May 1, 2023.

 

Nice planting of 'Kanzan' at Harris Green on Cook and Pandora.

 

More 'Kanzan' at Rockland and Linden.

 

I felt sorry for this 'Kanzan' - it's been strangled. On Rockland, east of Vancouver St.

 

'Ama-no-gawa' on Rockland and Vancouver.

 

@Willard and I did Victoria on foot on May 1. Here is one of our favourite finds - a fence accommodating a 'Kanzan' on the 100 block of Simcoe Street.


I posted at (1) Identification: - What fuzzy rootstock on these 'Shiro-fugen' cherries | UBC Botanical Garden Forums the rootstock of this long row of 'Shiro-fugen' in front of an apartment building on Dock Street between Dallas Road and Niagara Street. Here are photos of the trees.


Around the corner at Niagara are four avium 'Plena', from Dock to Pilot Streets, not as tall as the big old ones in Vancouver.


Back on Dallas Road, at the James Bay Co-operative Housing, are nice low-grafted 'Kanzan' trees ...

... and one 'Shiro-fugen.

 

I think I'm supposed to post these 'Kanzan' mixed in with weeping birch trees on Michigan and Oswego.


And this horse and carriage on Menzies at Michigan.

 

Impressive 'Kanzan' on the grounds of the BC Parlaiment.
Wendy liked the trunk.

 

Substantial 'Shirofugen' at BC Parliament grounds, too.

 

Twenty 'Shirofugen' planted in 2002 at park located at Michigan and Menzies.
Not at peak bloom yet.

 

@wcutler - i saw somewhere in social media someone posted pink blossom photo from Fairfield area of Victoria

any reports ?

 

This plum photo was posted here at https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/plums.36163/page-6#post-441029. I think there is a cherry across the street, but I have not seen a detailed photo.

 

I think I saw a photo of something in what was known as Twitter now X

I don’t know what species

def pink blossom
And it said Fairfield

someone knows :)

 

I’ve only seen one cherry tree with any blossoms in Victoria. It’s not what I was expecting.





‘Beni-shidare’ on Simcoe , east of Oswego in the James Bay district.

 

I didn't photograph it, but the 'Beni-shidare' at Alexandra Park in Vancouver's West End is not that far behind this - has a few open flowers and a bit of an over-all suggestion of pink.

 

‘Kanzan’ at Government Street

 

Double row of ‘Kanzan’ in the heart of Chinatown,
On Fisgard, between Government and Douglas.
Morning light is good for photos. (Early morning would have been even better).

 

One potted ‘Ama-no-gawa’ on the NE corner of Government and Fisgard. Looks like it lost its mate in the container next to it. Just the stump(s) left.

 

This ‘Ama-no-gawa’ planted 39 years ago at historic site.

 

Lots of ‘Kanzan’ lining Menzies St, north and south of Superior.

 

Surprisingly, four ‘Shirotae’ still blooming at the Kids Playground at Swartz Bay BC Ferry Terminal today. Past peak bloom with lots of green leaves.
But still….

 

There are five cherry trees on Quadra between Courtney and Broughton, all lined up in a row.
I'm only certain of the ID of #5

Tree #1








Tree #2



Might be ‘Akebono’



Tree #3









Tree #4









Tree#5


‘Kanzan’

 

OK, I'll play, but it would help to have the size of the flowers, and to know which ones are fragrant.
1: I've changed my mind from my first thought, am going to say 'Yokihi'.
2: 'Whitcomb'? 'Whitcomb' petals could easily be white by now. Doesn't have the graceful branches of 'Akebono'.
3: The phylloid pistils have ruled out some things, so I'm going to say 'Ito-kukuri'.
4. I'm wondering if this is so hard because we can't tell the flower size - they look like large flowers, but maybe they're not. I also wonder if it's supposed to be weeping. It looks a little like 'Sendai-shidare' that's been pruned so you can walk underneath it. It has to be something that produces cherries, since there are at least three fruits in the photos.

 

Thanks for playing the game, @wcutler .
No wonder I was confused…I don’t see those cultivars very often.

Tree #4 did not have large flowers, and I didn’t notice any prominent fragrance on any of the trees (it was windy, though).

I thought it was odd that they were all planted in a straight line with lots of space between them.