1/21 "Winter Hope" is the name the photographer gave to this December image of pussy willows blossoming out of season along Coal Harbour in Vancouver. Photo by ~~Light Partner 2.0~~.
2/21 Spring starts to stick. Blossoms on glass, March 22, 2010 by knitgirl.
3/21 "Tiny Dancer, Strawberry blossoms, center stage" by Jes A.
4/21 In the first week of March two years ago, the sun kissed a cluster of cherry Blossoms in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood of Vancouver and popejon2 blessed the moment by taking a picture.
5/21 Tom Weibe came upon this "Sakura Canopy" along Vancouver's Coal Harbour "on the first glorious Saturday of spring" in 2011, which happened to be April 2.
6/21 "Sadly, I didn't get a single blossom image I liked from my trip... to the Sakura Days Japan Fair at VanDusen Botanical Garden... Then I saw these white blossoms (maybe apple?) mere steps from home. Seymour Street, downtown Vancouver. April 2, 2011." By Eric Flexyourhead.
7/21 "Anonymous photographer does an undershot. The birds and I watch," annotates photographer Wurkingartist. Photo taken March 12, 2010.
8/21 UBC might as well stand for Ultimate Blossoming Cherries during springtime. This was taken in April of 2008 by md&r.
9/21 "Blossom Corridor on Stephens Street" in Vancouver, taken by Wurkingartist in April of last year.
10/21 "Sakura in the city of glass." Photo by md&r.
11/21 "Cherry Jam." The Carnival Band helps kick off the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival at Burrard Skytrain on March 31 of last year. Photo by wayne worden.
12/21 A spray of blossoms. Okanagan orchard irrigation captured by JeremyOK on May 17, 2011.
13/21 "Our mountain ashes are all in blossom right now," noted Prince George photographer DJ Huber when he posted this photo on May 23, 2010. "The crop of berries won't be nearly as huge as it was last year. I think that these things go in two-year cycles -- although last year was superlative compared to other boom years."
14/21 Blooms at night caught by refreshment66.
15/21 "The back door: Vancouver's City Hall under wraps" captioned waferboard in April 2011.
16/21 The downside of blossoming glory: sneezing. In pollen-drenched Prince George, "the tree next to one of my bus stops seems to have exploded over the weekend," wrote DJ Huber. "I may have to avoid this stop for the next week or so, as my eyes decided to start itching after my encounter."
17/21 "Magnolia Haiku: white magnolia / you have surprisingly few / poems about you." Photographer and poet: Tom Wiebe.
18/21 Somehow popejon2 managed here to catch that tint of light in May that promises summer even as it consigns spring blossoms to their end. This was taken on May 9, 2009 in the Arbutus Ridge area of Vancouver.
19/21 New carpet, old laundry. Blossoms on the ground by HereInVancouver.
20/21 "Pink Lawn" Photocat62 calls this Vancouver shot, adding: "An amazing sight on Inverness near East 57th Ave as spring ornamental cherry blossoms fall to the ground. Glad I caught this in nice overcast light, it wouldn't be the same in sunshine."
21/21 Fallen blossoms. The sakura are almost finished again... and the cycle continues. Homer Street, downtown Vancouver. May 17, 2011." Photo by Eric Flexyourhead.
What a pleasure, on a cold and blustery day in late February, to click into Your BC: The Tyee's Photo Pool, type in the word "blossom," and gain a step on everyone else by experiencing the sensation of spring's sumptuous arrival.
We're sharing 21 images here selected from many others just as good -- so vivid, in fact, that if you suffer from allergies don't be surprised if looking at them make your eyes itch.
In case you are not yet a Flickr fan, let me explain that Your BC: The Tyee's Photo Pool is where many dozens of members of The Tyee community post their digital photos, tagging them with various relevant words as they go. That allows you to play your own version of the game we've enjoyed here, punching in any words you wish and seeing what intriguingly eclectic images pop up in response. To do so, go to the Tyee home page, look over at the right hand column, scroll down towards the bottom of the page, find the photo of the day we've posted there, click on the blue live link that says Your BC: The Tyee's Photo Pool.
When you are then taken to the page showing the latest images, type whatever word strikes your fancy into the search bar that says "Search this group's pool." (You never know what you'll learn. When I happened to punch "beer" in as a key word, I discovered that a photographer going by the handle of kightbefore_99 apparently is assiduously documenting, beforehand, pretty much every brew he downs. Snap, glug, ahhh.)
Anyway, back to this weekend's photo essay. As I've said, the joy of the process -- plug in word, see what visions are conjured -- lies in the serendipity. In the communal collection we've assembled here, you'll find not only blizzards of pink and white, but a single lonely tree mightily striving to colour the blackness of night, a haiku, a tree hugger, and a new way of thinking about cherry jam. Enjoy. And if you have any ideas for words to inspire future Tyee Weekend photo essays, please post them below or send an email to editorATthetyee.ca.