Blossom time, hour by hour – 4 … Thursday

I wasn’t sure what kind of cherry trees these are (the map of the Cherry Blossom Festival here says they’re Akebono) – but they’ve clearly adapted to Vancouver: they blossom happily in the rain.

It took four days to get where I expected they’d be after only a day of bright, warm weather, compared with the Monday image below. So maybe temperature has nothing to do with how a cherry tree blooms. Maybe it’s about the amount of light; maybe they bloom on their own damn time, wet or not, thank you very much. And I’m too impatient.

Also, they’re old:

The thickness of their trunks suggests they’ve been around for awhile. They’ve been well-cared-for – which is to be expected, given their high-profile location just south of the rose garden in Stanley Park (map here).

It’s been a nice way to celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival, which, by the way, is now. Here’s Steve Whysall’s coverage in The Sun.

And the site of the festival here.

Even TravelSmart is getting on board with a photo contest:

Today is the first day of our Cherry Blossom Photo Contest. We’re asking people to send us their best photo of the blossoms via social media or e-mail and we’ll be awarding fabulous prizes to the winners!

Here’s how to participate:

Email your photo to BCBlossomWatch@vcbf.ca

Tweet your photo using the #cherryblossomsyvr hashtag

Post your photo to our Facebook wall with the #cherryblossomsyvr hashtag

When you share your photo, please include the nearest intersection so that others can find where you created your masterpiece!

And here are the theme weeks!

Blossom Transit Week: Monday, April 7 – Sunday, April 13 Take us a cherry blossom picture that includes any form of transit – from a SeaBus to a Community Shuttle.

Blossom Walking Week: Monday, April 14 – Sunday, April 20 To qualify for this prize, capture a pedestrian in motion.

Blossom Biking Week: Monday, April 21 – Sunday, April 27 In this final week, include a bicycle in your photo of the blossoms. Don’t forget that Bike the Blossoms is happening on April 26, and it’s a perfect opportunity to catch bikes and blossoms together!

Check out our website.