First posting here this year! I'm finding the comparison to last year interesting. @tknd posted 'Umineko' with fading flowers on April 7. They seemed just a bit past that stage yesterday, April 20. 'Mikuruma-gaeshi' had a lot of flowers open on that date last year. Yesterday there were just a few flowers open, made it easier to appreciate the bark. 'Pandora' were appropriately finished, with just a few flowers remaining, same story about the bark. It was pouring rain and I didn't walk over to see what was happening with the rest. I'm missing the Prunus hybrid (P. serrula x P. sargentii 'Sir Edwin Muller') that used to be along the exit. Did it die over the winter, or has it been moved?
Thank you for the news, which I'm sorry to hear. I liked that tree a lot and was expecting that it would do well. Maybe it was missing its friends from the end of the north garden.
Dropped by UBC earlier. The Shirotae near Regent College were not as full as I hoped (for a pure white picture) but still nice. At UBC Botanical Garden, half the Taihaku are ready. Ojochin is looking good. Ito-kukuri and mikuruma-gaeshi are not on the map so I'll add them in shortly in case we want them on the map. Surugadai-nioi, umineko, whitcomb, etc. have finished.
Dropped by UBC earlier. The Shirotae near Regent College were not as full as I hoped (for a pure white picture) but still nice. At UBC Botanical Garden, half the Taihaku are ready. Ojochin is looking good. The plants labelled as Ito-kukuri and mikuruma-gaeshi are not on the map so I'll add them in shortly in case we want them on the map. Surugadai-nioi, umineko, whitcomb, etc. have mostly finished.
I also visited the Botanical Garden parking lot 3 days ago, on a cold and rainy day. 'Tai-haku', 'Ojochin' and 'Mikurua-gaeshi' look much fuller in Yong's photos from today. 'Tai-haku' 'Ojochin' 'Mikuruma-gaeshi' 'Ichiyo' is getting ready to bloom. 'Umineko' trees still had lots of flowers. The last of the 'Pandora', 'Surugadai-nioi', 'Whitcomb' and 'Accolade' blossoms were still hanging on. 'Pandora' 'Surugadai-nioi' I couldn't smell any fragrance despite the name. Maybe because it's past peak? 'Whitcomb' 'Accolade' I found some completely intact blossoms on the ground. I picked a white-ish one up. When I put it in water about an hour later, I noticed the petals were pink. Then after 1/2 hour when I gently touched it, all the petals came apart. It was like a fast-forward version of a blossom's life. Sorry for some out-of-focus photos.
I also visited the Botanical Garden parking lot 3 days ago, on a cold and rainy day. 'Tai-haku', 'Ojochin' and 'Mikurua-gaeshi' look much fuller in Yong's photos from today. 'Tai-haku' 'Ojochin' 'Mikuruma-gaeshi' 'Ichiyo' is getting ready to bloom. 'Umineko' trees still had lots of flowers. The last of the 'Pandora', 'Surugadai-nioi', 'Whitcomb' and 'Accolade' blossoms were still hanging on. 'Pandora' 'Surugadai-nioi' I couldn't smell any fragrance despite the name. Maybe because it's past peak? 'Whitcomb' 'Accolade' I found some completely intact blossoms on the ground. I picked a white-ish one up. When I put it in water about an hour later, I noticed the petals were pink. Then after 1/2 hour when I gently touched it, all the petals came apart. It was like a fast-forward version of a blossom's life. Sorry for some out-of-focus photos.
The flowers and buds of 'Ito-kukuri' at the Botanical Garden parking lot look very similar to 'Ojochin' and I couldn't tell the difference. I also found other photos of 'Ito-kukuri' blossoms clearly showing double flowers and ragged edges, but these aren't. (See posts #24, #61 in the UBC Neighbourhood Blog) The tree in the foreground is 'Ojochin' and the other is labeled 'Ito-kukuri'. Unfortunately, I couldn't get clear photos. 'Ito-kukuri' 'Ojochin'
The flowers and buds of 'Ito-kukuri' at the Botanical Garden parking lot look very similar to 'Ojochin' and I couldn't tell the difference. I also found other photos of 'Ito-kukuri' blossoms clearly showing double flowers and ragged edges, but these aren't. (See posts #24, #61) The tree in the foreground is 'Ojochin' and the other is labeled 'Ito-kukuri'. Unfortunately, I couldn't get clear photos. 'Ito-kukuri' 'Ojochin'
I have just done a posting in last year's thread with comparison photos of the open flowers and a comment to me from Douglas Justice saying we need to give this 'Ito-kukuri' youngster some time. https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/ornamental-cherries-at-ubcbg-2022.102134/#post-436776
You're not alone! Was also wondering why the Ito-kukuri labelled plant looked like Ojochin instead of the Ito-kukuri found at other places such as Lakewood and 6th.
This is what Wendy posted in another thread. https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/ornamental-cherries-at-ubcbg-2022.102134/#post-436776
Here's another comparison posting of those two. First the tree trees, the one marked 'Ito-kukuri' on the left. Second photo is just the two labeled 'Ojochin'. These photos are the tree on the right: And the other tree in the second photo in this posting. Sepals aren't featured in these, but they're visible. Here are photos from the tree labelled 'Ito-kukuri', definitely showing leaves missing the acuminate tips. Edited - found a few more photos.
'Ukon' are open around town, but they are just starting to open here. The tree propagated from the large one we're calling 'Gyoiko' in Stanley Park, with the 'Kizakura' label here, has about as many open flowers as the 'Ukon', but the unopened buds are not quite as far advanced. I neglected to take a habit photo.
Here are more photos of the tree labelled 'Ito-kukuri', focusing on any signs of double flowers, and on stipules. And the nearer 'Ojochin'.
Four days later and the 'Ukon' is entirely open. The 'Gyoiko' with the 'Kizakura' label has more open flowers, but not many. From any distance, it appears to have no flowers, but they're getting lost in the leaves because there are so few, not because the colour fits in. I took so many photos to make the point that it's not just a few that have the green outer petals - just about all the flowers do. There are more open flowers on the north side of the tree, something I found to be the case for the 'Ito-kukuri' at Cecil Green Park too. Though these don't get lost among the leaves because of the colour in real life, they do in the photos, so all the ones above have been brightened with editing a very little bit. Here is one that I left unedited.
October 3 - I'd heard of Douglas Justice's plan to eventually replace the row of grafted 'Tai-haku' trees outside the gate along Marine Drive with trees grown on their own roots. Today was the start of the first visible phase - every second tree has been cut down. The plan is to situate the new trees, which are ready to go, closer to the road.
