Cherry Scout Program

Starting in March each year, the VCBF Cherry Scout program will guide you to the best of cherry blossom viewing in Vancouver. Anyone can be a Cherry Scout, and you are invited to join us. All you need is curiosity and interest, and if you like taking photos, that’s great too!

20230412 DolphinInlet Beni-shidare Willard IMG_2478
20230412 DolphinInlet Beni-shidare Willard IMG_2478

What do Cherry Scouts do?

Cherry scouting activities go on throughout the festival. Scouts volunteer city-wide to regularly observe and report on what’s in bloom. Scouts find the blossoms, report them on our forums, and based on that, the reports on the Blooming Now page herald the time for everyone to grab their cameras to capture the blossoms for themselves. In the process, you can learn a lot about the trees. We teach you what to look for – you tell us where to look.

In loving memory of our Cherry Scout and Founder of Green Club, Joseph Lin, you will be missed dearly. 
March 1954 – February 2020

Learning to be a Cherry Scout

No prior knowledge or experience is necessary. Scouts receive notices of talks, walks and how to purchase the latest edition of Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver, the indispensable guidebook for finding and recording our local cherries. To become a Cherry Scout, you can fill out this Scout Registration and Questionnaire and email it to Wendy Cutler, Scout Coordinator at [email protected]. Or just send an email with the information.

 Tree Talks and Walks

The best way to learn about the trees – walk with an expert who will identify them for you and help you learn what to look for.
Check out the listing of Tree Talks and Walks.

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Cherry Scouts and others check out the ‘Akebono’ cherries at Bill Stephen’s Talk and Walk at the Stanley Park Rose Garden on April 21, 2012.

Festival map

The next best way to learn about cherries is to look up the trees we know on the festival map at Neighbourhood Maps (vcbf.ca) On this version of the map, you can Search for where to find cultivars by cultivar name, or Search by neighbourhood to see if we already have a marker for the tree you’ve found and want to know about. Markers all link to a posting where there might be additional information.

Scout Corner

Scouts wanting information about the tools for reporting on the blossoms they find can check out Scout Corner.