Visitors to the Paralympic Winter Games in March of 2010 will witness Vancouver’s streets turning cherry pink – not snow white like at other Winter Games – thanks to the blossoming of the city’s 36,000 flowering cherry trees. In spring, in locations all over Vancouver, 35 varieties of cherry trees blossom then blanket the streets with delicate flowers.
By March, botany-buffs can celebrate the onset of spring with a visit to one of Vancouver’s many gardens. The 55-acre VanDusen Botanical Garden offers daily walking tours to view flowering bulbs, early rhododendrons and camellias. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, (built by 52 master craftsmen from Suzhou China), is an oasis in downtown Vancouver featuring delicate blossoms intertwined in a landscape of weathered rocks and a jade-green pond. A stroll in the UBC Botanical Gardens (on the University of British Columbia campus) reveals magnolias, early rhododendrons and spring ephemerals. Finally, Vancouverites and visitors can celebrate the rite of spring with the annual Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, on from March 28 to April 24. Infos: vandusengarden.org; vancouverchinesegarden.com; ubcbotanicalgarden.org
Photo: Tourism Vancouver
