Considering all the griping about how cold it has been (nowhere near freezing) and how late everything is (it has been a normal year), I was completely taken by surprise to see @Egan Davis's beautiful photo posted for ID, of 'Ichiyo' flowers downtown, see Atsumori? It's Ichiyo. So I went to visit one of my local 'Ichiyo' locations, and sure enough, they're almost in full bloom. The West End lanes were just named this year and have made it to google maps, so I can easily describe these as being on Ted Northe Lane between Cardero and Nicola.
Also surprising is the appearance of blooms near the top of the 'Shiro-fugen' on the corner of Beach and Thurlow. Lower down, where I could take a picture, the buds look like the second picture below. It does seem a little earlier than usual. Interestingly, just across the street on the northeast corner, one can still see some 'Accolade' flowers which have been showing up since Christmas.
It's supposed to be warm next week. They'll be open then. At Cardero and Comox, the 'Shiro-fugen' on Cardero has a lot of open flowers. Around the corner, no open flowers. But fat buds. The festival puts on a big lighted trees event, but you've found a naturally-occurring one.
Nice Akebono fading blooms now at the intersection of the bike path under Georgia St and the seawall by Coal Harbour on the walking path to the propeller sculpture.
Here they are. It's still the case that the one around the corner has no open flowers. Here is the 'Ukon' of a thousand names. Well, only three or four, until we decided that's it's just 'Ukon' after all, with more green than others, some years. Not this year. 1234 Barclay Street.
This tall white flowering cherry tree with mostly semi-double flowers and few simple flowers with green leaves is located near 1500 Pendrell St., is this Shirotae?
Yes it is. One 'Shirotae' between two 'Umineko'. I complained about a 'Shirotae' having such an upright shape in the first year or so I started looking at them. It's kind of shaded and hemmed in by the building and the other trees.
Just south of the Shangri La Hotel on Alberni is a fading bloom of cherry blossoms. Higher up though, there appears to be a rooftop grove of possibly cherry blossoms (hopefully not Kanzans which would grow too big for the roof, might be magnolias) but someone in that building would be better able to determine this. The aerial view shows what many high rise residents see in the expanding west end rooftop urban forest. Maybe we do drone tours next year?
I love the aerial views! I believe there are cherry trees on top of the Scotiabank Theatre building on SE corner of Burrard and Smithe. Most likely Kanzan.
'Gyoiko' at the Pitch and Putt Golf Course in Stanley Park are in peak bloom NOW. Not as vibrant green colour as previous years, but still beautiful. Worth a look.
I have a matching blossom photo. It's too bad that 'Shiro-fugen' bloom with such dark leaves that dull the impression of the trees. The colour up close is very different.
Two weeks later, half the flowers are dried up, half of those still hanging on the tree, but the other half still look good and the impression is still of a tree very much in bloom.
Well, I posted on the festival's Blooming Now page that everything is finished for this year, but it's not. June is weirdness month for 'Shiro-fugen' flowers. These are along English Bay, down from Jervis. There are not a lot of flowers, but they are noticeable from 20 meters, maybe more, and most of them are pretty strange. I couldn't decide which photo I liked among the last three.
I posted those same trees near Sunset Beach on May 12, 2018. It is really weird that they are still flowering 1 month later.
'Whitcomb' have started blooming in the West End! The first ones I noticed were on Pendrell and Gilford, atop the parking lot of the Eugenia.
'Whitcomb' have also started blooming at Kensington Place, on Nicola north of Beach. By the time I got there several flowers had already hit the ground. There was an Anna's hummingbird feeding on cherry blossom nectar at the site (not photographed). Let's hope we don't get a deep freeze.
