nature, Photography

May 9’s Friday Fleurday

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British Columbia’s provincial flower is the Pacific dogwood …

… which despite the unflattering name is a gorgeous, spring flowering tree with blooms in pink, pinkish-white, white and greenish white.

The “petals” are actually bracts, a type of leaf that forms around the actual blooms which are the tiny circular clusters in the centre.

Although the Pacific dogwood can be found in various shades of pink or pinkish-white, British Columbia’s official flower is the white one.

Right now the flowers can be seen everywhere here, another of the lovely, blooming trees that are so prolific at this time of year.

Happy Friday.

51 thoughts on “May 9’s Friday Fleurday”

    1. They remind me a bit of magnolias because at first, both types of trees are seemingly just skeletal frames holding stunningly beautiful flowers. The initial contrast is amazing although the dogwood often starts to produce leaves before its blooms are completely gone.

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  4. A well deserved post on this tree Lynette. In this part of the world, it often gets overshadowed by cherry, apple, plum and magnolia blossoms, but who can deny the beauty of the humbly named dogwood? Happy Friday. Allan

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    1. Thank you, Allan. They do tend to get overshadowed by many of the other blossoms but I find them so lovely in their elegant simplicity. Yesterday I made a point of counting the ones I saw in passing while driving to the grocery store. There were 14 over 3 kms so there are lots to be admired. Cheers.

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    1. Yes, that’s very true! The name comes from the fact that centuries ago, sailors used the wood of this tree to make nails, otherwise known as dags – or later, dogs – in ship repairs. But to today’s ear it’s an unattractive name for such a pretty tree.

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    1. Last spring most of the trees here didn’t bloom at all because the four-day cold snap in January had killed all the nascent buds (including on all the stone fruit trees, too). I agree; I think all the rain helped a lot and especially now with the combination of heat and rain that we’re getting. All the growing things are loving it.

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    1. Thank you very much, Tricia. The name comes from the fact that centuries ago, sailors used the wood of this tree to make nails, otherwise known as dags – or later, dogs – in ship repairs, but I think that today the name sounds strange and yes, certainly doesn’t match the tree’s beauty.

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  16. Lovely. I have a Satomi dogwood but it wont be in bloom for another 6 weeks. We are still waiting for leaves on all the trees here. Spring is a slow process in Nova Scotia but a lot will happen in the next couple of weeks.

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    1. It seems that you have also had a lot of cool and wet weather recently, too. I hope you post some pictures of your Satomi dogwood when it blooms as they are so pretty. Yes, when spring arrives it definitely arrives, no matter where you are! I worked in NWT for six years, and once the midnight sun arrived everything grew at a breakneck pace. It was beautiful but short.

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      1. Yes cool, wet and good for the water tables. I usually do at least one garden blog in the summer. The Satomi is usually included. NWT looks like a beautiful place to spend some time. Especially while experiencing the midnight sun.

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        1. That’s great. I’m looking forward to that post already. 😊 I enjoyed working and living in NWT but the outdoor life in summer was extremely buggy (these were the biggest I’ve ever seen, especially the mosquitoes and horseflies). I wore a bug jacket, pants and hat but I also saw some of the most stunning scenery in the world. The parks are fabulous.

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