I live in Steveston. There're two very impressive cherry trees on Richmond Street between 5th and 6th Ave. I suspect them to be Somei-yoshino. The first five photos are taken today. It's near the end of the bloom and the leaves have come out, while the Akebonos in the neighborhood are still in early stages. The last photo was taken on March 24. Can anyone please help me verify?
Welcome, @VeronicaZhou! Hmm. It's a hard call. The shape is more 'Akebono' and they're grafted, which 'Somei-yoshino' should not be. But sometimes are. And maybe it's the way they're grafted that makes the shape more like 'Akebono'. And maybe they have been top pruned to stay away from the overhead wires. Are all the flowers the size of the one you have shown? They give the impression of being a little larger. Once they have been open and have shrunk a little bit, it's even harder to tell. The fourth photo, showing those deep pink buds, makes me think 'Akebono' as well. I agree that it's hard to think of them being 'Akebono' when the others have not opened yet. In the West End and Downtown, that happens a lot - Burrard Station trees and several other locations were totally open when other 'Akebono' groves had no flowers open. These you've posted are maybe more inland than some of the others, in a little hot spot? The tree photos don't really say 'Somei-yoshino' to me. Let's look again next year when they have buds and fresh flowers. Thanks for posting these, Veronica. They're not on the map. Could you place the marker? Neighbourhood Maps (vcbf.ca). I can complete most of the details.
Thank you Wendy! From what I can tell the size of the flowers are very close to that of a loonie and they are distinctively smaller than typical Akebono's though I understand in pictures they do seem bigger. I'll try to get a side-by-side comparison with an Akebono. I did found two photos from last year March 17th, not sure if they'd help. I'll definitely keep track next year! I've added the location on the map, will leave the rest to you. Thank you very much!
Well, those flowers in the additional photos look more like 'Somei-yoshino'. The flowers are newer in those. I see you left it up to me to decide for the map. :) I called them 'Somei-yoshino'. Edited by wcutler: I have changed my mind, having seen several hait photos of 'Somei-yoshino' and 'Akebno'. These trees just look too much like 'Akebono'. So that's what they say on the map, at least until we see something next year that changes my mind.
Went to see the little row of Snow Goose on Pearson Way yesterday. They have peaked and are looking beautiful. [Edited by wcutler: These were put on the map by an unknown person - it seems they are 'Akebono', and I have changed the ID on the map. Veronica's comments were based on the assumption that the map entry was correct.] I have made a little comparison of its bloom size, one picture shows all Snow Goose flowers & petals, the other is Snow Goose vs. Akebono. The one Snow Goose sample I have used is quite big and has seven petals. I don't know if that's unusual?
Veronica, thank you for checking these out - the map entry shows "This row of young 'Snow Goose' was added directly to our map by an unknown person, and there are no credits on the Imgur photo". So there has not been a posting on them. These are all 'Akebono', and I will change the name on the map and link to your posting. I have to say that the flowers on the photo that came with the map marker does not give the same impression. Imgur: The magic of the Internet I really like your comparison of the size of the dropped petal and the one on the tree. Once the flowers start to dry up and get smaller, I find it really hard to distinguish 'Akebono' from 'Somei-yoshino' because the larger 'Akebono' flowers are then 'Somei-yoshino' size and hardly ever have extra petals, and I usually refuse to answer ID questions at that stage. I will edit your posting.
'Snow Goose' all seem to be grafted low, at ground level, and they have branching from several places on the trunk, usually quite upright. When they're young, they're a narrow tree. The flowers are 'Somei-yoshino' size, are very white and stiff-looking, with big stars in the centre because the petals are quite round and they overlap. The sepals are very green, and if the leaves are out, they are double-serrated on the edges, with two points between each dip.
Thank you for the explanation Wendy! Back to the two cherry trees on Richmond Street. I took some more photos today. I hope they will be helpful in trying to get a more accurate ID.
Nope. You're not getting an answer from me. :) Photos 2, 4 and 6 look like 'Somei-yoshino' (large stars, knobby branches); the others, particularly photo 5, look like 'Akebono'.
Is this a 'Beni-shidare'? The first four photos were taken on April 3, about the end of its bloom. The flowers on the grass are all shrunken and curled up. The last two were taken earlier on March 24 with a different camera. The flowers were of a darker pink then. This tree is located on Richmond St close to 2nd Ave.
Top Places for Blossom-spotting in Richmond If I was in Richmond, I would certainly be cherry scouting there, AKA blossom-spotting.
Home page - Richmond Cherry Blossom Festival 2021 Richmond Cherry Blossom Festival starts April 11, 2021. (Virtually) Not quite the same, is it?
Thanks for sharing! I live close to Garry Point Park and here are some recent photos that I took. It's beautiful at sunset.
Was at the Larry Berg Flight Path Park last weekend. Here are how the young trees look now. The ones planted surrounding the center piece sculpture are even bigger but unfortunately, I didn't take photos of those.
That's so great that you were just there, Veronica. @Willard just sent me a photo from when we were there three years ago. She posted them then at Richmond. It must have been in an email that she wondered what they looked like now, so thank you for posting them.
I'd like to share two of my recent YouTube videos featuring cherry blossoms and simply the beauty of spring. They are 13min and 10min long. The footage was shot mainly in Minoru Park, Tera Nova, Steveston, and Garry Point Park. The first one was made over a week ago. It consists of three parts as its name suggests 'Three Days in Spring: Hail to Bloom' The second one was just uploaded today, with a lot of 'Akebono'. It's titled 'A Feast of Cherry Blossoms and Sunset' I hope you will enjoy the videos!
