Took some shots of the Nelson & Bute 'Whitcomb' - so pretty today, too bad the cold is coming tonight... I've attached 6 shots, the rest can be found on my flickr account.
The 'Whitcomb' seem to be open in the minipark at Nicola and Pendrell, but they're not very exciting this year. The blossoms in the tree seem to be open or opening, but there's lots of blossom snow on the ground, so the trees are never going to get a good blossom cover.
Found a new 'Whitcomb' today; actually an old 'Whitcomb' and not in very good shape either, but it's in Stanley Park across the road (to the east) from the northeast corner of the golf course, and the splash of pink was very exciting. The other photo is the group of 'Whitcomb' trees behind the high-rise at Gilford and Pendrell, posted earlier, but definitely all in bloom now.
I'm a bit lost in describing these now. We're calling our pendula trees 'Beni-shidare', but three of the single pendula trees here are all a bit different from each other. Are they all 'Beni-shidare'? There are photos of them in posting #125 and earlier. Anyway, they have a lot of open blossoms, should be in bloom within the week. The second photo is of the fourth tree in the set, a 'Yae-beni-shidare' (double blossoms). This should be maybe a week later in blooming.
These 'Accolade' at the Aquatic Centre and across the street are almost in full bloom. The ones over at Chilco mini-park seem about a week behind these.
I can't remember if I guessed this was 'Pandora' last year (or did Douglas Justice tell me that one year?), but I was very excited to see that it's out at 'Pandora' time this year. I just discovered this old 'Accolade' on the golf course across from Ceperley Meadow. People in my building sent me to identify the two 'Whitcomb' trees on the NW corner of the golf course, not far from one of the Birch Bark Cherries outside the course.
Re: West End / Stanley Park--'Pandora' Wendy, where is this 'Pandora' located in Stanley Park? Thanks.
Re: West End / Stanley Park--'Pandora' It's just down from the sign shown in posting #133 - follow Nelson St into the park, down the path. It's visible there at the edge of the park. Maybe you can get a nice clear photo of the sepals (ha-ha, we need Douglas's ladder again).
Sorry for being so late in posting these. I didn't get many good pics of the Chilco mini-park. Just 2 that were taken on March 5. They were very sparse and a lot of blossom were brown like this one. The ones on Nelson and Chilco fared much better, but were only budding.
Out now in the West End/Stanley Park are, in order of appearance, 'Accolade', 'Pandora', 'Beni-shidare', 'Somei-yoshino', 'Akebono', 'Umineko', 'Spire', 'Rancho' and probably 'Yae-beni-shidare'. Coming in the next four-five days are 'Takasago', 'Mikuruma-gaeshi' and 'Shirotae'. I might have forgotten something. These 'Akebono' on Pendrell west of Thurlow have been reported before, but I don't think I realized that in addition to the three on the side of the building, there were two more in the back. 'Akebono' have only just opened up, but these are already dropping lots of blossoms. Continuing on the walkway between the buildings over to Comox and into that park, one of these three young 'Akebono' seems to be doing considerably better than the other two. I did a little staminode study.
Tagasago We saw that a few Tagasago trees have begun to bloom on the streets of West End-such as Comox, Jervis.
This is such a great 'Shirotae' at the West End Community Centre - even the people in my building's 4 o'clock club have noticed it. It seems to me to be on its own roots, not that I get that correct very often. 'Shirotae' in Stanley Park were not in bloom yesterday, including the one I just identified at the foot of Comox. That has just enough open blossoms for me to identify it.
You can see see two 'Rancho' on the lagoon side of the tennis courts. To the left of the willows, looking a bit yellowish, are the two 'Shirotae', considerably more in bloom than three days ago, probably worth seeing by the time you read this. The ones over at the Japanese memorial are a little behind these, maybe 5 or 10 percent open. Above or between the 'Shirotae' is a 'Somei-yoshino'. It was cold and wet for Bill Stephen's Tree Talk and Walk today. But the 'Akebono' at the Rose Garden showed up. Bill said they would; I have to admit I was a doubter. Bill is the city's chief arborist - maybe the trees talk to him. The matching umbrella people didn't know each other. We took shelter under some sort of structure at Malkin Bowl, to talk about the two 'Rancho' cherries. That's Bill Stephen in the photo. I was so cold I joined the Aquarium to warm up in the Amazon room, as suggested by a walk participant who works there. It was a great idea. Besides thawing out, I got to notice that the two 'Shirotae' in the yard there have not started blooming at all, and I found the grove of Dawn Redwoods outside the former zoo area.
I was surprised to see that everything is blooming at once. Makes my job easy. So here are some blossoms I saw today. The first tree and bloom is a Takasago. This small tree and blossom are Akebono. It's really filled out this year.
Walking toward the park on the 1800 block on Comox is a massive, white Sweet Cherry. I didn't get very good pictures of the blossoms last year, so here are some. The tree itself is so massive and sparse that it's difficult to get a good photo.
Crossing Guilford on Comox onto the 1900 block you'll see a Sendai-shidare in front of the Eagle Crest apartments. I notice that the blossoms are not only notched in the center, but the petals are quite ragged.
Another Sendai-shidare, a much debated tree from last year. It's really grown. I think Wendy mentioned last year that this tree is 50 years old. It's beside a Heritage home in the 1900 block of Comox.
All the cherries in the Chilco mini-park are finished now. Between the mini-park and Neson Street on Chilco is a very fragrant Shirotae. I haven't been able to do it justice and only have some poor shots of the blossoms. At 1010 Chilco (same block as the Shirotae) are about four cherry trees that have finished blossoming. But there is one that is still in blossom. This is an Akebono. it. Also I've taken a shot of this block as I think you can find three varieties of cherry.
This Akebono tree is in the alley behind 2090 Barclay. Last year I got it as it was starting to bud. Happily, I got it in full blossom this year.
Downtown I went on Georgia and Jervis street downtown. Cherry blossoms have already been falling off. I thought this cultivar is the most beautiful I've seen !
Re: Downtown These are on the south side of Georgia, so we've been posting them (in previous years) in the West End thread. They are 'Shirotae', and there used to be a lot more of them in this planting. I see there are some very young ones in the mix now, that don't seem to be doing all that well.
This post covers the small area between Park Drive and the tennis courts. These trees are right on Park Drive near the exit. I tagged them as Akebono but I think they are Somei-Yoshino. I know, I should have gone to the workshop. The next tree and blossoms (Akebono) are up toward the dog park. The next in full blossom shall remain nameless until identified. This one hangs over the pathway in that same little patch. The 2nd photo is the view from the other side. The sign post says, Lagoon Drive and Nelson St. This is in the same patch at lagoon Drive and Nelson.
Stoneangel, the different tree on Chilco and the one on the Barclay lane are 'Akebono'. I've got an ID now for the tree with the great roots at the edge of the park on Comox, in posting #172. It's 'Shirotae'. No wonder I missed it before. It's competing for attention with a magnolia and a Yama-zakura (third photo). And the blossoms are way up there; I didn't even try to get a blossom photo.
Thanks Wendy. I'll change that On the north side of the tennis courts near lagoon Drive is a dark photo. Beside it are the blossoms. There is a drinking fountain nearby. This tree is on the eastside park pathway near the Park's offices. It faces the alley behind 2005 Pendrell. Now on Pendrell we head to Chilco. There are three blocks of 'Mikuruma-gaeshi' trees (to Denman). It's not hard to tell where the graft is on these trees. [edited by wcutler: I changed the ID on these - single blossoms; Pendrell is 'Mikuruma-gaeshi', Comox is 'Takasago'.] The 'Mikuruma-gaeshi' trees are interspersed with Akebono on Pendrell from the parks office to Denman. Lastly, a Somei-Yoshino at 1937 Pendrell.