Hi Bagrat, is that a 'marsupial' handle by any chance Hey, I'm no expert, or botanist, so those who are feel free to contradict anything I say; but here's my take (and I hope Joe Real's in the house).

Spring! ...we just had a beautiful Autumn day here in Oregon, but as I tilled our gardens yesterday and nibbled on the last of some Everbearing raspberries ... I'm already dreaming of Spring~

So, your friend has an ornamental cherry tree and you'd like to make it produce? If so, how old do you suspect it is? And, how high in the tree do you plan to bud? If you bud low, the bark may be too thick to work with; and, it may not receive enough sunlight to 'take off.'

You are a bit late for dormant grafting ... unless you can find some refrigerated scion wood... But as far as distinguishing flower from vegetative buds; when collecting your 'bud stick,' it will likely be actively growing wood from this years shoots. Those shoots should all produce vegetative buds. At each leaf-base will be a potential bud, and if you'd like a "handle" for inserting it into the "T" (for example), don't ‘knock off’ all the leaves. I suspect that (now) ‘second year’ wood has sent up it's growth hormone and activated the upper-most buds for 'growth,' whereas the lower buds will likely develop and swell into flowers.

Off topic, but still on my mind …tonight on TV I watched on “60 Minutes” (CBS weekly nationwide news program) and then again on “Nature” (US Public Broadcasting) programs on the massive world-wide honey bee die off. Seems a virus originating in Israel has been shipped ‘over here’ from Australia as our bee-keepers restock their dead hives. Scientists around the world are looking for answers, and this one virus seems only an additional problem for these poor honey bees... But I never knew Australia was so big in bee production? I’d given up on my hive back in the late 80’s when the first mite infestations hit. But we watched 3 massive swarms (the first in decades!) head across the yard last year, even filmed them! This summer we watched a ‘wild hive’ inside a large woodpecker nest box.

I’m letting ‘nature’ pollinate my fruit now, including my mason bees. Couldn’t believe all the moths I found working over some European prune/plums this spring by moonlight. …Enough with the bees; let me know if what I described above jives with what you’ve learned. And welcome to the Forum!

Viron