Vancouver Cherry Blossom FestivalPresented by
Akebono cherry trees have reached peak bloom in downtown Vancouver. It’s a lovely time for a walk.
Want to know more about Vancouver cherry trees? Join our free Cherry Talks and Walks starting this Sunday April 7.
“The three straggly ‘Whitcomb’ at Nicola Mini-Park are also showing signs of pink. ” – (Willard)
When this posting went up on the VCBF Neighbourhood Blogs forum on January 12, I felt a shiver of excitement down my spine: “Cherry blossom season has begun!”
The Whitcomb cherry trees at Nicola Park are one of the first cherry trees to bloom in Vancouver. When their tiny, deep pink cherry blossoms are open, it officially marks the start of our “pink wave” here in Vancouver (a pink wave that will reach its peak during the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival in April).
Whitcomb cherry blossoms are blooming mid-February to mid-March. They purple pink flowers are small and photogenic. Use the Neighbourhood Maps to locate a Whitcomb tree near you, grab your camera, and rejoice: Vancouver cherry blossom viewing has begun!
[Photos: Jessica Tremblay]
Easter Week-end is always a great time to go cherry blossom viewing in Vancouver. The Akebono cherry trees are in bloom and looking spectacular.
My favorite location is Georgia and Denman which has a beautiful reflective pool:
At the entrance of Stanley Park, at Alberni, young akebono will allow you to take close-ups:
Instead of entering Stanley Park (cherry trees in that location always need a few more days to bloom), I opted to wander in the West-End where you can encounter Akebono in bloom at various street corners, such as here in Nelson and Broughton:
There are lots of buds in the Downtown trees, which means you still have time to visit. They should be in full bloom within 2-3 days.
Attend one of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s Tree Talks and Walks to learn more about cherry trees.
A group of 40 people met at the Burrard skytrain station today at 2pm for our first Cherry Tree Talk and Walk of the season!
The Akebono cherry trees were in full bloom at the Burrard skytrain station.
Our second stop was the Governor’s Plaza (behind Urban Tea Merchant) where more Akebono trees greeted us.
The group stopped to admire an art exhibit (featuring dancing umbrellas) in a window.
But cherry trees were the star of the show, especially along the seawall.
Wendy Cutler, the leader of the walk, brought us to see many beautiful Akebono cherry trees blooming in courtyards of downtown condos.
Nothing more beautiful than cherry trees next to the water. We stopped there to rest a few minutes.
We saw lots of beautiful cherry trees, including some Umineko, Accolades and Shirotae (white blossoms with green leaves) which are starting to bloom. We walked to Stanley park and the walk finished at the heronry at 4pm. It was a lovely walk.
One of the questions that came back often was: Do cherry trees give cherries? The answer is: no. Our Vancouver trees are ornamental cherry trees.
Check out our schedule to join our next Tree Talk and Walk.
The beautiful Akebono cherry trees are in bloom at Burrard skytrain station.
The trees will be in bloom for another 7-10 days.
Lots of benches for a quick hanami lunch, but expect a lot of activities and photographers.
When Akebono start blooming, you can see one of their main characteristics: some Akebono cherry blossoms have a sixth incomplete petal growing. This petaloid will fall a bit later, that’s why it’s important to visit the trees early if you want to identify them as Akebono (as opposed to Somei-Yoshino).
Burrard skytrain is one of our favorite locations Downtown. Because the trees are blooming earlier this year, we’ve added cherry talk and walk (Downtown and Stanley park) on Saturday March 14 2015 2-4pm