“Spring”

Above: Black Tupelo in bud

Early April is a somewhat frustrating time of year for gardeners in northern New England. Yesterday we had 5 inches of snow followed by rain and dense fog. Then, by mid-afternoon, all had melted and it was sunny and warm enough to lounge on the deck. Today it is again bright and sunny, but in the low thirties with a bracing wind. This weather makes working in the garden seem pretty far off. How can we know how far off it really is?

For years I have paid close attention to birds as signs of spring.  A few days ago, I was thrilled to see two Killdeer foraging in a field behind the Glen post office. This is my earliest Bartlett record for this shorebird which could have flown in from as far away as South America.

I wondered whether our new trees and shrubs could tell me anything about spring’s arrival. I bundled up and went into the garden, and lo and behold, all the woody plants had buds! I was so excited. Not only had they made it through a winter where we had a wind chill reading of -56 degrees one night in February but they were all budding! You go, native plants!

I just learned about Budburst.org, which keeps track of the dates that buds, leaves and flowers appear, and notes annual differences. Budburst data supports a study of the timing of life-cycle events in plants, known as phenology. It is a way to measure the effects of climate change. I decided to use the Budburst app to record pictures of our new plant’s various life-cycle stages. This contributes data to the project, but best of all I am in the garden taking a closer look at the plants even though the ground is still snow covered! That’s gardening, isn’t it? 😊

Above: Allegheny Serviceberry (left) and Tamarack (right) in bud

You can actually get a sneak peak of spring’s arrival from the US National Phenology Network. As you can see from the map below, based on Leaf Out reports, Boston is approximately 10 days early. There are no Leaf Out reports yet north of Massachusetts, but here in the Mount Washington Valley we still have snow on the ground, when last year it was gone by mid-March. It will be interesting to see whether our Leaf Out is similarly early.