Vancouver Canada
2010

Some of the flowering fruit trees of Canada's West Coast peek out as early as January to hint at spring on the way. It's another weather quirk that makes this city so atypically Canadian, yet such a Canadian gem. And absolutely worth a visit anytime from late-February to May.

“This is why I live here!” exclaims many a Vancouverites during cherry blossom season. Each spring, as the rainy season fades, city dwellers pack their sweaters away and are rewarded with one of the world’s most cheerful sites: 40,000 cherry trees bursting with pink and white blooms.

A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus Prunus or Prunus subg. Cerasus. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally refer to ornamental cherry trees, not to be confused with cherry trees that produce fruit for eating. It is considered the national flower of Japan.