March 17, 2024. The third of what is turning out to be a series of single pink blossoms is ‘Beni-shidare’. You won’t confuse these cascades of pink blossoms with ‘Whitcomb’ or ‘Okame’, which trees have a more upright shape. It also should be at least a few weeks later than the previous two.
You can find the new 2014 enlarged edition of the indispensable guide to Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver, written by Douglas Justice, Associate Director & Curator of Collections at UBC Botanical Garden. Purchase the full eBook version here on our Shop.
International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition
Submissions are in from the international prediction competition, “When will the cherry trees bloom in 2024?”. The predicted date for ‘Akebono’ trees studied from Vancouver (Maple Grove Park in Kerrisdale) is April 3, just four days earlier than last year’s peak bloom. You can read about the predictions at https://competition.statistics.gmu.edu/.
The competition organizers provided all the publicly available data they could find on the bloom date of cherry trees. Competitors used this data, in combination with any other publicly available data, to create reproducible predictions of the bloom dates at five locations around the globe.
The organizers are hoping to help scientists better understand the impacts of climate change.
Here are the first photos from 2024, taken March 10. The development here is similar to what was photographed last year on March 21. The group in the third photo are a little ahead of all the others. Photos are by Wendy Cutler.
Photos below were taken at 6:30pm PDT on March 15. The daytime highs were around 7 C degrees, until the last two days when they reached 10 degrees. Almost all buds have emerged from their bud scales, and some pedicels are visible, to .5 cm.
March 17, photos taken at 1:30pm. We are into the fourth sunny day with temperatures around 15 C degrees. We are ignoring the young fourth tree here. The three old trees are progressing at a different rate. It’s hard to see progress on the middle tree; the other two have blossoms lightening in colour, slightly enlarged, with most pedicels noticeable. The last four photos are of the most advanced tree, the one closest to the main road.
Festival Favourites
Some of our festival favourite photo-op locations were shown here during the bloom season with current year photos and the approximate blooming dates. Red markers on our festival map show all our favourite locations. ​​​​When we talk about Festival Favourites, we mean you will be happy you made the trip to see them to photograph them. When you’re there, remember the neighbours:
1) do not climb the trees 2) do not break the branches 3) be respectful of the residents who live on the street 4) do not stop in the middle of the street 5) keep your visit to a max of 15mins (cause really, how long does it take to snap a few photos?) 6) stay on city property, do not go on private property 7) try to stay off the grass, especially if you are wearing heels. Mostly – be respectful to the environment and the residents. Remember that it is the residents who are responsible for caring for those trees.
Learn How to Take Cherry Blossom Photos with your phone thanks to Cakewalk Media for the tips!