The two 'Tai-haku' trees on Burrard across from the Armory are in full bloom right now - definitely worth a visit. Douglas Justice mentioned them in his April 20 blog article last year, and there are photos in this thread from April 12, 2008.
Pandora and Shirotae Pandora taken on W6th and Arbutus on April 11, 2009. Note the small light-pink single flowers showing gaps between the narrow petals, and the somewhat vertical branches. A great pleasure to see. Shirotae taken on W7th and Vine on April 11, 2009. Beautiful white shade, but no almond scent.
Re: Kitsilano - Jo-nioi on Burrard at Cornwall? More like Hosokawa-nioi [edited by wcutler: I added the currently assumed cultivar name to the title, based on Douglas's reply.] I drove back across the Burrard Bridge to see what the riot of magenta was all about - a crab apple totally eclipsing the Kanzan for over-the-top colour. Next to it was one of the two Tai Haku, with a single cluster of blossoms remaining, these looking fresh and new. But what's that very fragrant tree between the two Tai Hakus? Kuitert's 'Jo-nioi' photo looks a lot like my blossom photos (except for petaloids on more than a few of my blossoms), which the photos in his book NEVER do, so I don't know whether to place any stock in that or not. Things that matched from Kuitert's 'Jo-nioi' description: The foliage was light bronzy coloured, there were red glands at the base of the leaves, peduncled umbels (that term didn't make any sense to me last time I saw it, but it seems to fit this), stems about 3cm long, flowers looked to be 4-5cm, pistil seems shorter than the stamens. I couldn't reach any branches to measure anything. The flowers in the last photo were from the ground and were a lot smaller than what was on the tree, so I didn't measure them.
Wow! Nice discovery, Wendy (how did I miss that?). From your photos and description, I'd say it's pretty close to 'Hosokawa-nioi' (as you surmised in your email to me). Perhaps Kuitert only saw shaded specimens of that cultivar, which might explain a green vs red calyx. Then again, maybe it's more complicated than that. This year, it seems to me there's more red in the developing tissues of a number of plants. I wonder if the cold weather might have something to do with it. I recall reading that phosphorus deficiency often manifests itself in reddening of tissues, and the availability of soil phosphate is temperature mediated. Note that the leaves of evergreen viburnums often develop a reddish purple tint in cold weather. Certainly, the sickly yellow of the leaves and stems of this cherry suggests something is awry. Then, I'm no plant physiologist, so maybe I'm all wet. In any event, it just goes to prove that one can't jump to conclusions based on a single year's observations. Last year, I assumed they were all 'Tai-haku'. I suspect the fragrant one wasn't out and I assumed it was just an unhappy 'Tai-haku'. I do remember that I was illegally parked and in a hurry. Not a very good excuse, I know.
Rows of pinks blossoms along 16th - picture taken is close to Arbutus. And there are more around MacDonald up to Alma (with some white blossoms in between).
These Amanogawas are well past prime, but they should get posted so people know they're there. This set is at 1st and Maple: two at the back of the building, three on Maple and two on 1st. There are two interspersed pollarded cherries that I missed seeing in bloom and can't identify. They have very hairy leaf undersides, and no hairs on the leaf margins. These two Amanogawas are on Larch between 4th and 5th.
Here's a very nice Shirofugen on the property of the apartment building at the south end of the Burrard Bridge.
We're calling trees that look like darker Akebonos 'Afterglow' - see the Is this Pink Shell? More likely Afterglow - Mid-season single pink, spreading tree thread in Cultivar IDs. If these are the same, it's exciting to find a second location. I'm so sorry I didn't connect this posting to the other at the time, and I'm annoyed I didn't too. I think the colour seemed so different, but then later, it turned out the others faded to the colour shown here. Of course, the Kits trees would be quite a bit ahead in blooming than the ones in the Sunset neighbourhood of South Vancouver. Thanks for posting these!
These three Whitcombs are on 1st Avenue just west of Balsam. It was February 7, and they're close to being fully open.
These two Whitcombs on Whyte east of Maple are in bloom February 14. Mariko posted a photo of them last year taken on April 10.
Thanks for the photos and info. Very interesting. I wish we could have scenes like this in Winnipeg. It wouldn't be that hard - there are many hardy flowering trees that are hardy here. Does anyone know how much upkeep it takes to keep the Vancouver city trees looking good and flowering well? That might be the biggest issue here.
I sent your question to Bill Stephen, of the Vancouver Park Board. Here's his reply: On the whole, the Flowering cherries in Vancouver do not require as much maintenance as many of our street trees. They don't require much pruning until they get into their senescent period; which is usually age forty and over. The flat shaped variety can be susceptible to branch breakage from heavy snow loads; by that I mean 30 cm of the wet stuff or more. There are a variety of pathogen issues with them, mostly brought about by the cool damp conditions common here from March thru June. I would think that the extreme cold, and late spring frost snaps, would be the limiting factor for Winnepeg. Bill Stephen Vancouver Park Board ---------------------------------- Thanks for the question. I'm going to leave this here for a couple of days, then move these two postings to the Growing Ornamental Cherries forum, where this kind of information should be of interest.
The cherry (plum? cherry?) next to the path paralleling Cornwall at Kitsilano Beach Park, south of the west side of the pool, the one resting on the boulder, is looking beautiful in bloom right now! frog
Hi, frog - the one in posting #37 below? It IS a plum. I know there's at least one photo in the "Plums" neighbourhood of that one as well, but I can't provide the link now. [Edited by wcutler - here it is in the Plums thread.]
You're right - it is the last photo in posting#37! Interesting that last year it bloomed in April :-) frog
Thanks. First, though, I doubt that ornamental cherries will be hardy here. I was just trying to ask about general maintenance of the flowering city trees, and curious why Winnipeg doesn't have any. I was more talking about the ornamental crabs and such. We need a bit more spring colour. Perhaps the messyness of the fruit falling on the ground could be a limiting factor. Is there a problem with that in Vancouver? Anyway, this is a bit off-topic from the thread. There aren't many places here where I can ask such questions anymore!! Sigh.
On my ride home through Kitsilano today - Pendulas - 'Beni-shidare' - single blossoms; the first one on 13th near Trutch, and the other on 8th near Blenheim Whitcomb - in the park on 6th at Maple; this has been out for quite a while and still looks good. Pandoras - the first one on 6th west of Arbutus, and the second on 6th between Maple and Cypress. Joseph Lin's photos last year on April 16 of the first group are in posting #43 . But last year, the Schmittiis across the street were in bloom when the Pandoras were, whereas now they haven't even started. Colt - at 8th and Arbutus. We'd been working on identifying this one for years - see the thread in Cultivar IDs - Colt - Single white, early mid-season, dense thin upright straight branches [edited by wcutler 20100326] Okame - 6th east of Stephens. There are more photos of this in posting #29 taken March 25 last year; it's totally in bloom now. Shirotae - a bit of a tradition for me to capture the first open Shirotae in the city - see the first posting in this thread, taken March 23, 2008 at about the same state. It must be quite a warm plaza. Stellata - at the Observatory in Vanier Park. There are four of these trees here, two quite nice looking and the other two more misshapen. Joseph's photos from last year are in posting #47.
It's getting so I can't believe a word I say. Last night, the day after I really looked and saw nothing on the Schmittis, I drove a friend past the Pandoras on the way to her place and there in the street lights were some tiny little open blossoms on the Schmittis. So "not started" is not true. Flowers are not very noticeable on these trees even in full bloom, which I guess will be within the week. [Edited by wcutler] I checked again - the Schmittiis are NOT out except a few blossoms that seem to seek the limelight. So it might really be the case that the Pandoras will be mostly finished when they come out, like I said to begin with. It still might be less than a week, though.
This Oshima started to bloom 5% on Arbutus Street by the tennis court of Kitsilano Beach Park. The Somei-yoshino nearby also started to bloom, but the Akebono trees in the parking lot and near Cornwall at Yew Street bloomed few.
This Somei-yoshino bloomed around 15% alone by the lawn of Planeterium. The Akebono trees at East Courtyard of Vancouver Museum and one Somei-yoshino by Maritime Museum also started to bloom.
Star & Galaxy Cherry and Magnolia highlight Planetarium It is interesting. I may find this secret behind the Stellata cherry trees in front of Planetarium when I was enthusiastic in sharing my knowledge with the staff of Planetarium last Friday. Prunus Subhirtella "Stellata" was found in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park Tea Garden. The inrolled petals give their "star quality", but the cultivar is rarely cultivated. (Ron B. & Douglas Justice) I accidentally found four trees in Vanier Park in 2008. Wendy Cutler found another one in Queen Elizabeth Park last week. I just found a bigger one in Dunbar Community. It occurred in my mind that our Parks Board staff may intended to buy and plant these Star Cherry trees in front of Planetarium, which educates and discloses the secret of the stars for the public. But I don't know if they also intended to plant the only one star magnolia tree under the star cherry tree. I would like to suggest that Parks Board can plant some Amanogawa "Heaven's River, Milky Way or Galaxy" Cherry trees by the Planetarium in the future.
The two 'Tai Haku' across from the Armory on Burrard are in full bloom and looking fine, as usual. The 'Hosokawa-nioi' between them seems at least a week or two behind these. The 'Shirotae' around the corner on 1st (not pictured) are also in bloom.
One of the 'Tai Haku' is almost finished, and now the 'Hosokawa-nioi' is in bloom, but it was more than a week - March 23 till April 4. Very fragrant. The three 'Ukon' in the triangle formed by Macdonald, Point Grey Road and 1st Ave are looking good. There are other photos of these trees from 2008 in posting #25.