This banana palm plant growing in Vancouver was cut down at the end of November 2025 before our winter got going, thereby preventing winter rot, caused by a fungal disease in the soil. Had the banana leaves fallen with the cold weather, they would have created the perfect warm and moist environment for the fungus to get established.
The four pseudostems show how the banana leaves wrap around the central core and then around each other. Take a look at ScienceDirect’s article about how much more
The strappy yellow petals of this Japanese witch-hazel brighten up this winter day, the first week of January 2026. This Hamamelis japonica, its scientific name, started blooming in December and now in January the tree is turning a vibrant yellow.
I photographed this particular tree growing in a minipark in Vancouver’s West End, the blossoms on January 1 and the whole tree on January 4.
Witch-hazel trees are in Hamamelidaceae, the witch-hazel family.
Although the yellow blossoms are evident,
Now that I have passed the Vancouver Master Gardeners Basic Training Examination, I am approved to tackle volunteer projects. Being a writer rather than a hands-on gardener, I’ll be writing articles about trees.
Here’s my first: “A Row of ‘Snow Goose’.“
After attending three months of excellent lectures and coaching, sending in assignments, and taking a final open-book test, I have passed the Vancouver Master Gardener Basic Training, making me a “Student MG – First Year.” All I have to do now is 65 hours of volunteer work and I will be a “real” Master Gardener.
I plan to do some of my volunteer hours writing copy. Wish me luck.
The beautiful cherry blossom season of 2020 is winding down, to be followed by the later parade of magnolias, camellias, rhododendrons, and azaleas.
The ‘Takasago’ north of Rose Garden Lane continues to be outstanding, whereas I went passed two ‘Rancho’ trees growing south of the Stanley Park Pavilion, and realized I had missed their blooming entirely.
I have enjoyed photographing, smelling, and learning about four more Prunus cultivars over the last ten days: ‘Kanzan’, ‘Gyoiko’,
Third Report, Nina Shoroplova, Cherry Scout for Stanley Park
So many cultivars of flowering cherries reached peak beauty this past week that it’s hard to know where to begin. Though I have never before concentrated on so few tree species at a time, I now understand the fascination with the transcendent and fragile beauty of cherry blossoms.
This third report about the blossoming cherry trees in Stanley Park for the week April 10 to 16 reveals that there are cherry trees along every walk, beside
Second Report, Nina Shoroplova, Cherry Scout for Stanley Park
So we grew together,
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet an union in partition;
Two lovely berries moulded on one stem.
Shakespeare, A Midsummer-Night’s Dream III, ii, 208–211
In Stanley Park this week, the first full week of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, double and single cherry blossoms abound—cherry trees of various species and cultivars are in prebloom, first bloom, and full bloom stages.
There are now three groves of ‘Akebono’ moving through full bloom.
The grove of ‘Akebono’ on Chilco at Alberni, near the Welcome to Vancouver sign on Highway 99 is now at peak glory. What were once pale