SakuraWatch 2007 February Update
I've been keeping an eye on the Lake Balboa - Anthony C. Beilenson Park in Van Nuys lately. Why? To be ready for the awesomeness.
Because if you miss your chance to get shots like this, you're going to have to wait a whole 'nother year.
Here's the scene two weeks ago. The trees were covered with these hard, little red-brown buds.
I expect that the Sakura Fairy will be along some night to gather up these buds and leave cherry blossoms in their place.
Here's the State of the Beilenson today. The buds look largely the same, but closer inspection reveals that many of these buds have green tips pushing their way through the brown shells.
(That white blob is a raindrop hanging from the buds.)
So, a little progress so far, but no pink quite yet.
EDIT: When will they bloom?
A bunch of you commented to ask me when they will bloom. The answer is: I don't know. I'm not a botanist. Hell, I don't even cosplay a botanist.
But Jason, who knows more about this stuff than I do, guesses that they'll be peaking in 4 weeks.
You people in San Diego need to go find some cherry blossom trees down there, and keep an eye on them. My Googling leads me to believe that there are cherry blossom trees in Balboa Park. So you guys need to find out where they are, and how their location would be for photoshooting. And they'll be on a slightly different timetable from the ones up here, so keep an eye on them and post your reports.
Also, there is an annual "Cherry Blossom Festival" in Barnes Park in Montery Park. This leads me to believe that there may also be cherry blossom trees there. There are also supposed to be some sakura trees in Victory Park and San Rafael Park in Pasadena. So we need a SakuraWatcher to check those out, see how their location would be for a photoshoot, and examine the progress of the flower buds.
Photos courtesy of my camera phone.