I took this picture of a tree on the West side of the carpark at the UBC Botanical Gardens on January 25th. Based on location, I think it is one of the 'Whitcomb' trees. It looked like the tree was just starting to bloom, but this was before the snow came so I do not currently know if these buds survived.
These are pictures of the 'Whitcomb' on the west side of the carpark entrance at the UBC Botanical Gardens. These pictures were taken on February 11th, 2025. It looks like the buds which had opened in late January have not survived the snow. There are currently many tight buds on the tree with just one or two starting to open.
We're supposed to get only two more freezing nights - maybe some of those tight ones will make it through?
The 'Whitcomb' trees on the west (left) side of the UBC Botanical Garden carpark have started to bloom! I would guess that approximately a third of the buds are partially open on one of the trees. There were even some visitors taking pictures in front of that tree today (February 27th 2025). The other tree has much fewer open blossoms.
I didn't take any photos of the 'Tai-haku' yesterday at Douglas Justice's walk, but I did notice this photography session using the trees as a backdrop.
It was a perfect day for Douglas Justice's walk for the VCBF, sunny, not too warm, and plenty of cherry trees in bloom. The first notable trees in bloom in the Wharton Cherry Grove now were the three 'Ojochin', two a little past prime, but all three looking beautiful. Just a very few flowers are open on the 'Ukon' (first two photos) and the 'Gyoiko' (third photo, the only open flower!). 'Umineko' is well past its best-before date, but the red eyes are attractive. These will eventually fatten up and appear to be one huge round tree. Douglas mentioned that since these are all on their own roots, the garden is not concerned about letting the suckers grow.
These trees are on your right as you enter the parking area. Sometimes I forget that 'Ichiyo' is my favourite cherry, but I definitely remembered yesterday. This is their best time, when there are still buds, and still pink in the open flowers. Next to it is 'Mikuruma-gaeshi', unquestionably the best-looking example of this cultivar in Vancouver. The 'Pandora' in this group is an early-blooming cherry; I didn't even recognize or remember it. At the north tip of the north garden, next to the "back 40", are two 'Pink Perfection', with three more outside the gate. There is only this one group of open flowers, and I was very surprised to see them so white, but now that I see the photo in our Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver book, I see that I forgot that they do that, and there is usually a mix of pink and white-with-a bit-of-pink flowers. These should be in bloom within a week. These photos are from outside the gate, but the two trees inside the garden are a bit healthier. The bud photo is from an outside-the-garden tree that was run over by some vehicle.
The 'Pink Perfection' on Stadium Road next to the UBC Botanical Garden fence (across from St. John's Hospice) are starting to bloom. There are three outside the fence, but I wonder whether the middle tree has a grafted branch that is from a different cultivar. All the other branches have pink flowers, yet this one branch has white flowers! Tree 1: Tree 2: Tree 3:
The 'Ojochins' at the Wharton Cherry Grove are still looking nice. I am a little confused by the tree closest to the buildings. To me it looks very much like the other two 'Ojochin,' and Wendy's post said that there are three 'Ojochin,' but the label on the tree says "Ito-kukuri" and the neighbourhood map also calls it 'Ito-kukuri.' The picture of 'Ito-kukuri' in Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver shows a double, soft pink cherry - which does not match the look of the actual tree... Here is the 'Ukon' nearby: Within the UBC Botanical Garden at the corner of Upper Asian Way and Stearn is a cherry. The map labels it as 'O-yama-zakura' and the label on the tree itself says 'Sargent Cherry.' Either way, it has long since finished blooming, leaving behind this one petal as a trace.
On @Douglas Justice's Walk last week, he said the three trees were 'Ojochin'. They are a little slow at changing the labels. It was supposed to be 'Ito-kukuri'. Douglas couldn't account for how it wasn't, didn't think it could have got mislabeled, but I wasn't the only one not convinced and it seems he's come around. I have removed the map marker for Ito-kukuri. Thanks for the reminder to do that. Japanese name (should be written o-yama-zakura, not upper case, no quotes, not exactly a name, but rather a Japanese word meaning big mountain cherry) and English name. Botanical name is Prunus sargentii. Not only that, but what's with the bronze leaves?! I use green leaves as my proof of 'Pink Perfection' and not 'Kanzan'. Phooey. There is supposed to be no grafting involved for these individuals. I think to test if it's a chimera (distinct tissues as the result of a mutation), cuttings from that area would have to produce trees with the white flowers. The white flowers were the first opened on all these trees, but that's not why they're now white. I saw them white last week. Douglas checked the flower, was convinced enough that it had 'Pink Perfection' characteristics (all those vexillate filaments - the white flags on top of the stamens).
These photos are from yesterday, five day's after Kiri's. Here is 'Ukon', in the Wharton Grove. The white trees helpfully providing the obvious colour contrast on either side are the 'Ojochin'. Leaf stipules, fwiw. Here is the 'Gyoiko'. I would not have described the flower colour from up close as so green that the tree does not appear to be in bloom, yet with lots of flowers of the same size as the 'Ukon' above, the tree did not appear to be in bloom. Yet the parent tree in Stanley Park appeared obviously in bloom with yellow flowers (not shown here). This is a good year for green on the flowers in this location.
These trees are in an area to the right as you enter the parking lot. 'Ichiyo' has almost all-white flowers now, with pink eyes. 'Mikuruma-gaeshi' flowers have past their best show, also showing pink eyes, with hardly any extra petals remaining. Prunus maackii flowers are just opening. The ornamental interest is really the bark. I can't resist adding a few 'Pink Perfection' photos from Stadium Road, still showing their raspberry swirl ice cream colouring (thanks to @Ron B for that helpful description years ago). I didn't photograph it, but the one that was run into by a truck has completely fallen over now.
