Victoria, BC (on Vancouver Island)

Photos taken on 2009-04-18 on McKenzie Street in Fairfield (not McKenzie Avenue in Saanich!)

between Chester and Linden
Tree #1a

Tree #2a - Rancho?


between Cook and Chester
Tree #1b

Tree #2b

Tree #3b

Tree #4b


Jacobson: Sargent Cherry, Prunus Sargentii, is a large, upright flowering Japanese cherry with pink or pale pink flowers blooming in April. The foliage often assumes striking, rich orange fall color. The best specimens are on the boulevard of MacKenzie Street in the Fairfield district, and on Belmont Avenue north of Pandora Street.

 

Photos taken on 2009-04-22 on Oliphant Street in Fairfield between Heywood and Vancouver - a Jacobson location - Ukon

Tree #1


Tree #2


Jacobson: 'Ukon' is a robust tree with semi-double pale creamy flowers tinged green, becoming flushed pink as they age. No other cherry blossom appears so yellowish. It may be seen on Oliphant Street.

 

Photos taken 2009-04-24 on Cook at Pandora (Harris Green)


Kanzan (id thanks to Wendy Cutler)

 

Trees looking just like columnar Sargent cherry forms in details of flower and leaf etc. but pale pink than 'Rancho' and with a broader habit will be non-columnar Sargent cherries. A street just south of my neighborhood north of Seattle has both columnar dark pink and non-columnar lighter pink Sargent cherries lining it. All have the sticky bud scales of Sargent cherry, making confirmation easy.

Trees lacking sticky bud scales and differing distinctly from columnar Sargent cherry in other details of flower and leaf will belong to another species or a hybrid cultivar. Pick sample sprigs and hold them close to one another to compare.

 

Photos taken 2009-05-03 on Oxford Street in Fairfield.
These are most likely Prunus Avium 'Plena' except for the smaller trees, e.g. tree #2.

looking eastward from Cook and from Linden


Tree #1


Jacobson: An ornamental type of the Gean or Mazzard Cherry (Prunus avium), is the double form 'Plena.' The blossoms are pure white, the tree very large and vigorous. It can be seen on the boulevard of Oxford Street.

Tree #2
Shiro-Fugen (id thanks to Ron B)

 

The last one looks like 'Shirofugen'. This becomes quite broad in time, seems unlikely to fit well within the parking strip shown. Kuitert, Japanese Flowering Cherries (1999, Timber Press) asserts we should be calling this 'Fugenzo'. However, another, pinker flowered, not broad-growing and now rare one has long been known in North America by this name. Jacobson, Trees of Seattle - Second Edition (2006) says if the whiter, very common one is properly 'Fugenzo' then the correct name for the pink one will then have to be determined as well.

 

Thanks for the id, Ron.

 

Photos taken 2009-05-07/08 on Hilda Street: Shiro-fugen

looking west from Linden Avenue, and east from Cook Street (Hilda is only 2 blocks long)


Tree #1 on the boulevard




Tree #2 in the gardens of 1150 Hilda Street


Jacobson: 'Shiro-fugen' is a strong-growing widespreading variety with double pink flowers in long stalked clusters which are long lasting, fading white. It is one of the best. It is on the boulevard on Hilda Street.

 

I don't know that I should be contradicting Jacobson, but first of all, our scout Mariko makes the point that shiro means "white" and the flowers should be white on the real Shirofugens, and secondly, don't they all "fade" pink? I thought the fluorescent pink developing from the centres out to colour the whole petals was the particularly distinguishing feature of this cultivar. I agree that they're one of the best.

 

The sequence is pink > white > purplish. Many down here (it's planted all over) look pink or pinkish from a distance at present. E.H. Wilson called it P. serrulata f. albo-rosea. Other synonyms are P. serrulata 'Albo Rosea' and P. lannesiana 'Albo-rosea'.

"Name means 'white god' or 'white red'. The Japanese common name for this cultivar is Fugenzo...Buds deep pink. Flowers large, double (20-36 petals), first soft pink, then white, then fading pink-cerise in age*. Two (or as many as five) tiny leaflike carpels in the middle. Late-blooming compared to most Sato Zakura. It has a habit of blooming again, sparsely, in mid-June or early July. Young foliage coppery-red"

--A.L. Jacobson, North American Landscape Trees (1996, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley)

*Emphasis mine

 

Photos taken 2009-06-25/26 on Hilda Street: second flowering of Shiro-fugen - wish I'd noticed the previous week, many of the blossoms had already fallen

 

Does anyone know the cultivar 'Kursar'? Could this be it?

 

The most magnificent Shiro-fugen tree I have seen. Planted in 1985 (see photo of plaque found at base of tree).

Located just north of City Hall on Douglas Street.
Top of tree showing some bare branches.

 

Kanzans on at Royal Theatre in Victoria. Northeast corner of Broughton and Blanshard.
Pretty in morning light.

 

Can that really only be 30 years old?? I'd have guessed 100 years. Maybe it was a large tree when it was planted? Thanks for posting that. I thought I'd posted the most magnificent 'Shiro-fugen' today, in Hastings-Sunrise posting #77, but the one here is very grand (ok, maybe more grand), and has a special history, having been planted by Mayor Daizo Ohta, of Morioka, Japan, to commemorate twinning between Morioka and Victoria.

 

While searching (unsuccessfully) for information about that Morioka tree, I came across the website of the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society, with a page on Cherry Blossom Viewing in Victoria. It has cultivar names, short descriptions, photos, and locations.

 

Several 'Shiro-fugen' locations were looking excellent in Victoria last weekend.
This tree at Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort is visible from the ferry, as is the group of trees on the Songhees Walkway at the Esquimalt Bridge.


The nice tree at the BC Legislature south lawn on Superior St is almost (well, is totally) overshadowed by a crab apple.


'Shiro-fugen' street trees line both sides of Woodstock for its whole length of two short blocks. Though they want to be wide trees, and would generally be not so appropriate as street trees, they work well here because the street is wide, and the boulevards are wide.

 

Just when you think cherry blossom season is over, there are 'Shiro-fugen' in bloom now at Port Hardy, on Vancouver Island.
At the northernmost point of Island Highway #19. Literally. End of the line.



Not in Victoria, but IS on Vancouver Island.

 

Gee maybe there is Akebono up in Yukon now

 

If you're cycling up that way, take photos!

 

‘Whitcomb’ in Victoria. Photo taken by Kortzmant, from Instagram (posted with permission)

 

Another photo from Kortzmant, taken March 29,2020.

I’m guessing ‘Somei-yoshino’

 

More likely 'Akebono', considering the shape and age.

 

And shade of pink

 

This tree looks a little nice for 'Autumnalis Rosea', but I don't have anything else to call it. It's downtown Victoria, on Douglas outside the Crystal Garden, posted on Facebook by Vern Gelette, an ex-co-worker Facebook friend. The slightly warmer climate might make the difference. And it's younger than most of the trees of this cultivar we see in Vancouver.