First posting in 2008 Even though we're the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, plums have their very vocal fans, and they really do have quite a huge presence on our streets, signaling the beginning of spring as much and in some places more than the cherries. As well, most people think they're cherries. So here's a thread devoted to our great plums. For a start, see the Plums thread in the Ornamental Cherry Cultivar Identification Forum for a description and photos. Postings to that forum are for identification purposes. In this forum, post locations and photos so people know where to go to find them (not that it's hard in Vancouver - they're all over the place, but some locations are outstanding, so post those ones). And please don't (knowingly) post plum photos in the neighbourhood threads.
Date - Wednesday March 12th Neighbourhood - Marpole Location - Osler Street between Park Drive & 59th Avenue Status - Starting to flower Note - Vancouver Parks Board has alternated cherry & plum trees in this block (see my post in Marpole). The plum tree below is framed by an Akebono tree. Location - 67th Avenue northside near Hudson Street Status - Numberous flowers have burst open ... in one day I have noticed a difference.
The West End is rife with plums. Though the white ones are not fully out, they look their best right now before the leaves come out and obscure the blossoms and darken the overall look. Here are some plums on Comox near Chilco, with emerging Accolade cherries in the background. This white one on Cardero St has green leaves, so has a brighter overall look. I wondered what this was last year, but now that I know to look for the single stems off the branches, I was able to tell right away. On the Ornamental Cultivars Identification Forum in the Plums thread, Ron B identified this tree on Bute St. as Prunus x blireiana.
Date - Monday March 17th Neighbourhood - Marpole Status - 50%-60% of each tree in flower I don't know if the cool, cloudy weather has anything to do with it, but the plum trees that I have seen in Marpole have not changed much in the past 5 days.
Re: Downtown Art Gallery The plums in front of the Art Gallery on West Georgia are 50% out. There was a protest against seal slaughter and the fountain was full of soap suds blowing in the wind- that accounts for the white fluff in the air.
The purple-leafed pink plums are out in the West End now, so we'll get lots of reports of these "cherries" soon.
Date: March 18, 2008 I took a wider sweep of the Marpole area today. All the plums I observed both east and west of Oak Street (from about 70th to 54th Avenue) had about 60-70% of their blossoms in bloom.
A Beautiful Old Purple-Leaved Plum I found a very beautiful old plum tree in Kitsilano Beach Park. These are pictures of a same tree. But it looks very different from where you see. It is located near the South-West corner of the park (near the corner of Cornwall Ave. & Point Grey Road) It has a very wonderful, unique shape and it started blooming rather earlier than other plum trees. It's already at peak bloom. And the flowers are very white and flowers started blooming before the leaves came. So I first thought it was not Purple-leaved Plum. But now leaves are opening and they are purple. These are pictures of the same tree I took last week. When you see the right side picture very precisely, you can know the flowers of the plum tree come out from the stem separately and very regularly.
Great photos of a great tree - thanks, Mariko. Here's a tree I saw today that I really like because of the colour, which was an unusually warm pink, like Ichiyo cherry blossoms. It's in the middle of a lane that runs between Thurlow and Bute, between Harwood and Beach. Usually I like the all the urban trappings in the photos, but this setting really does nothing for such nice trees or the photo. What a great find, though, in a lane like this, and what a nice thing for the people whose apartments face out onto the lane.
Hundreds of pink purple leaved plum are blooming 30% in Arbutus Ridge Community surrounded by King Edward Ave., MacDonald St., 16 Ave. and Arbutus Street, Vancouver. You will also find double flowering plum in this community. Deep pink Nigra plum will start to bloom one week later. More photos foryour appreciation at http://www.greenclub.bc.ca/Chinese/Experience/Nature_Photography/Spring/C4/c4.htm
Re: Plums 1700 Barclay I took these photos of plum blossoms on Barclay west of Thurlow last Saturday March 15. I love the bright white petals and the cheery bristly anthers. Probably Prunus cerasifera "Cherry Plum" => wikipedia article
Re: Downtown Art Gallery Here's a closeup taken the same day of one of those plums showing rough greyish bark, coppery leaves, and elegant rounded 5-petal flowers looking exactly like the Festival's icon.
Hi, Here is from Killarney neighbourhood. Willy and Mayling spotted plums but not cherries on the following nine locations in the East Vancouver on Saturday. Those white plum trees are just blooming with less than 40%, so we will continue to share with you the change. 1. Location: E52Ave between Doman and Mckinnon: Ten white plums trees with 10% blooming, still a few flowers fallen. 2. E51Ave between Doman and Kerr: 5 white Plums at 10% blooming, Five red with 2% blooming. 3. E50Ave between Doman and Kerr: 14 white Plums at 20% flowers 4. E48Ave Between Doman and Kerr: 9 red plums but no flowers yet 5. E46Ave Between Doman and Tyne 18 white plums at 20% flowers 6. E45Ave Between Kerr and Rupert: 4 white plums at 40% flowers 7 Brooks Street between E46Ave and E54 Ave: 68 white Plums trees at 20% flowers and 30 red plums trees on the both side walks. The white and red cross planted on the road sides with a very high density. 8. Arlington Between E43rd and E45th Avenue: 19 red plums trees but no flowers yet 9. Lancaster between E41st and E45th Avenue: 35 white plum trees at 40% blooming and 3 red with 0%.
Joseph, I hope you don't want us to post all 17,000 of these. All these Arbutus Ridge streets look about the same - plums as far as the eye can see. These are from 22nd at MacDonald and 19th at MacKenzie. Well, there will be pink ones too.
Scout Report 2008-03-25 There are 11 big plum trees on Laurl St at West King Edward (Emily Carr Elementary School). Time: Mar-25, around 15:30, Cloudy Blossom: About 1/3 of Full Bloom. Photo: 2pcs
As light a pink as the double-flowered one on Bute St looks in these pictures it might turn out to be P. x blireiana 'Moseri' if checked. If flowering specimens of P. x blireiana and P. x blireiana 'Moseri' could be collected and compared with this one it should be immediately apparent where it falls. MOSERI (x) is like 'Blireiana' in origin and in general, but makes a larger, more open tree, and has paler pink flowers. It has also been sold as 'Veitchii' and as 'Light Pink Blireiana'. Alfred Rehder gives 'Boehmeri' as a supposed but uncertain synonym on page 321a of his Bibliography of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs http://www.arthurleej.com/a-PurpleleafPlumTrees.html
Fraternal twin Plums (one white, one pink) on the southeast corner of Quebec and 15 (Mount Pleasant neighbourhood) and Kensington/Cedar Cottage's E. 28th Avenue lined with plums from Knight Street to St. George, as well as some of the streets radiating off E. 28 (i.e. Prince Albert, Harriet).
Plums in Killarney/ Champlain Heights. Best Regards. Mayling & Willy New added 1. Location: Butler Street between 49th and 54th Ave E. Status: 50% more blooming, 10 red and 9 white plum 2. Location: E59th Ave. between Kerr and Rupert, 30 red plum trees Date: Mar 24, 2008 Update of Lancaster :
Fraternal twins are purpleleaf plum overwhelmed by uncontrolled sprouting of cherry plum rootstock. An often-seen similar combination is 'Kanzan' Japanese cherry (and others) supplanted by sweet cherry rootstock.
Date - March 27, 2008 Plum Tree Type - Prunus Cerasifera Nigra Location - Cartier Street near 59th Avenue There are many of these trees in this part of Marpole that are in full bloom.
Plum trees are blossom and widely planted from north 41st Ave down to south SE Marine Dr. in between Victoria Dr and Fraserview Golf Courses. The flowers are like sea and as far as you can see. We hardly found cherries in this neighbourhood. --Mar 29, 2008
Peaceful repose among the Plums at Mountainview Cemetery, northwest section of Fraser and E. 33 Ave. Plum-Lined E. 28 Avenue between Fraser and St. George. The E. 28 plum line runs from St. George eastward towards Knight.
It looks like double purple-leaved plum 'Blireiana', which is the hybrid between purple-leaved plum and Prunus mumi.
Re: Tony McNaughton Memorial Plum Coal Harbor at the Bayshore The lovely plum tree planted to honor Tony McNaughton is in full bloom. You can see this plum as you walk the seawall past the Bayshore at Coal Harbor. Tony was killed saving the life of an employee at the Starbucks on Robson street. Every year I watch this plum blossom and I am glad to have an opportunity to post the pictures today so we are reminded of the goodness and generosity of this man.
