| Its
Spring! 2007 |
beth
koebel |
| Mar
29, 2007 07:59 PST |
Bob and the rest of ENTS,
I sent an email about 4 hours ago and it still has to arrive
from
cyberspace so please excuse the repeat. Spring has sprung in St.
Louis.
The high temps are in the mid to upper 70s with the lows in the
50s
(unusal for March. This is mid to late April weather). People
have
thier windows open and are starting to mow grass. The maples,
elms, and
persimmons have bloomed had past. The daffadils, spring
beauties, wild
violets, tulips, and other flowers that I don't know the names
of are
blooming. Irises are budding and the lillies are growing thier
leaves.
Most of the trees are blooming are starting to bud out. The
drive home
from work has about a 1 to 1-1/2 mile section which winds its
way
through some developed woods along a little creek and is
beautiful right
now has the red buds or in full bloom. (on a side note: There is
a
white bud in bloom two blocks from my apartment. I have pics if
you
would like to send you them) In people's yards there are plum,
crabapple, and bradford pears blooming.
Beth |
| Re:
Spring's a commin |
Beth
Koebel |
| Mar
29, 2007 10:29 PST |
ENTS,
Spring has sprung here in St. Louis. People are
mowing the grass, windows are opened, and flowers are
blooming (daffiolds, spring beauties, along with
others that I don't know the names). Other flowers
are budding such as tulips and irises. Our maples,
elms, and persimmons are done blooming. The red buds
are in full bloom with the dogwoods right behind. The
oaks and hickories are about ready to bust out. The
frogs are croaking and your windshield is now starting
its annual collection of dead bugs. I saw the first
of many dandlion blooms this past weekend.
Beth
|
| Re:
Spring's a commin, WV |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Mar
30, 2007 07:32 PST |
Bob:
Spring has finally hit West Virginia.
Last week the trout lilies hit in a big way and in just four
days they are
already going to seed. On Monday of this week the bloodroot
started to
flower. Today, I noticed that the blue Cohosh has popped up and
about 10" tall.
Most of the ground cover has not emerged yet but sugar maple,
yellow poplar
and acorn seeds are sprouting
None of the trees are leafing out yet...except the understory
buckeye trees.
Red maple started flowering heavily about a week ago and the
white ash
started to flower yesterday. Today I saw the first of the
boxelder flowering and
I think I might have seen the beginning of sugar maples
blossoming today.
In some areas the faint greenish yellow of spice bush flowers is
starting to
add a little color.
I've been fortunate the past couple of weeks because where I
have been
working I have been serenaded by ruffed grouse looking for love
and an unusually
vocal bunch of ravens. Every morning wherever you are in rural
WV you can
hear turkeys gobble.
But...nothing beats spring peepers!
Russ
|
| bumble
bee |
symplastless |
| Apr
02, 2007 04:20 PDT |
I keep track of theses guys. I saw my first bumble bee on
3-30-2007. These
guys amaze me like the pleasing fungus beetle. As you well know
"According
to the laws of aerodynamics, bumble bees cannot fly. "
Pithy Points number
405, Shigo
Bud opening.
Did you know that the for the buds to open, the starch stored at
the base of
the bud is transformed back to glucose. In doing so it creates a
pressure
that forces the bud open. Many of the old text books would have
you believe
that water comes into the new vessels and pushes the buds open.
The problem
with that theory is that the new xylem is not formed yet. You
can see the
starch I refer too at www.treedictionary.com. See
"buds".
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
|
| Re:
bumble bee |
Randy
Brown |
| Apr
02, 2007 16:38 PDT |
| Re:
Tulip Poplar |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Apr
05, 2007 01:59 PDT |
Gary:
In central West Virginia the tulip poplar hasn't started to
flower yet but
the red maple is in full throttle.
Redbud started heavily on April 2 and 3 and yesterday the first
sugar maple
trees started to flower yesterday, April 3.
Red elm has mature seed on it and wind dispersal is underway
Today, April 4 striped maple buds started to break and the
chestnut oak
trees have just started to leaf out.
However...we are going to have a big freeze over the next couple
of days and
I think it is going to hit the young cherry and poplar leaves
pretty hard.
Russ
|
| Re:
Tulip Poplar |
Lee
E. Frelich |
| Apr
05, 2007 05:55 PDT |
Neil:
Our red maples in the south (i.e. Minneapolis) started blooming
about the
28th of March also, but red buds and magnolia blooms are still
at least two
weeks away. Now the red maples must regret the decision to bloom
early,
since it was 15 degrees yesterday morning and this morning.
That's nothing
compared to the north (i.e. Ely MN and Marquette MI). A foot of
snow fell
yesterday in northern MN , and more than 2 feet in Upper
Michigan,
including the Porcupine Mountains, where winds have been
sustained at over
40 mph for the last two days. Waves on Lake Superior are running
15-20 feet
high. That's normal weather for April in the North.
Lee
|
| Thunder,
lightning, and snow |
Steve
Galehouse |
| Apr
06, 2007 20:08 PDT |
ENTS,
We've had some really brutal weather in NE Ohio for this time of
the
year, with a high on Monday of 80F, followed by high winds, lake
effect
snow, and very cold temps--we haven't been above freezing for 3
days,
with lows in the low 20's, and even thunder and lightning and
snow
showers. The city plows are out clearing the streets right now.
In landscapes all the saucer and star magnolias were starting to
blossom, as were the oriental cherries--now all spent, as if
bletted. At
our garden center we've micro-foamed and milky-filmed the trees
that
were in bloom or breaking bud, I hope they'll get through the
cold and
still be saleable in the early season.
Steve Galehouse |
| Re:
Tulip Poplar |
Neil
Pederson |
| Apr
08, 2007 04:39 PDT |
Lee,
It'll be interesting to see what happens here: dogwood and
tulips are in
full bloom, leaves are on the elms, silver maple and starting
too creep out
in some of the tulip-poplars [in the heat island of Richmond,
KY] when we
got hit with 5 nights of below freezing weather, including 3
nights in the
lower 20s F and a trace of snow yesterday evening. So far, so
good. I guess,
however, that is the result of hundreds of thousands of yrs of
genetic
selection in the midwestern US. So far it looks like they are
going to shrug
it off.
neil
|
| Red
Buds and Dogwoods |
beth
koebel |
| Apr
11, 2007 06:23 PDT |
Bob and all,
About a week or so ago you asked about the red buds in Missouri
and
southern Illinois. I'm just now getting around to replying.
There
seems to be a line down the Mississippi River. There are plenty
of red
buds with a few dogwoods in Missouri but very few in Illinois. I
wonder
if this is because most of the growth in Illinois is 2nd or 3rd
growth.
I am going to try to turn this around, at least on our family
farm. I
just got 25 dogwoods and 25 red buds to plant next week. All of
the
trees or about 1-2 years old. Last year I planted 25 overcup and
25
swamp white oaks there.
We have about 2 acres of ground that is no longer tillable due
to a
creek that moved. I tried to get in a program to replant it
through the
state but they turned me down due to lack of funds. I guess I
just have
to do this on my own also. I am going to wait until my nephew
gets his
alpha crop (deer plot) growing for one year then I will plant
the trees
the next spring. The alpha should keep the weeds down. The thing
I
need to research is how many trees/acre I should plant in this
creek
bottom using mainly oaks and hickorys.
Beth |
| More
on Redbuds & Dogwoods |
Steve
Galehouse |
| Apr
11, 2007 15:53 PDT |
ENTS,
Redbuds here in Ohio are more frequently found in in calcareous
soils,
so they are more common in the western part of the state, while
dogwoods
seem to be more prevalent in areas with soils derived from
sandstones.
None of the native or planted redbuds or dogwoods are in bloom
yet in N
Ohio, but trees on our nursery sales lot are in full bloom due
to the
warmer root zones of dug or potted trees. On of the most
spectacular
redbud varieties is "Appalachia Red", with
neon-raspberry flowers that
seem to glow. The original tree was found in Maryland. I've
attached a
link to a photo(taken today) of the flowers.
http://inlinethumb30.webshots.com/3741/2534634560043069736S600x600Q85.jpg
Steve |
| Our
Farm in Illinois |
beth
koebel |
| Apr
12, 2007 07:15 PDT |
Ents,
First, sorry about all the typos in my last message, I was extremely
tired at the time. One of the things I like to do with visitors
is to
drive them to the pasture/woods. I park on the outside in the
field and
then we cross the gate trying not to snagged on the barb wire.
Then we
walk up into a clearing about 30 feet east then turn towards the
right
and walk southwest following a cow path for about another 30-40
feet.
After ducking the branches of the honey locust we come out on
the west
side of the pond. We continue walking around with the pond on
the left
and head east again. To our right there is small to medium size Osage
orange and many small hickoys and oaks. As we head east we go
down a
gradual slope then we hang a right and head south back up the
hill. As
you get to the top of the rise you then can see the massive
trunk on the
black oak. Most people can hardly believe the size of it. But
this is
only relative to what they are accustomed of seeing. All of us
have seen
bigger.
I love just sitting on of the many branches that have fallen
from my old
friend and thinking and wondering. Sometimes I have seen ants
climbing
the tree and start to try and imagine finding a tree that is as
big to
me as this tree is to the ant. I wonder about what all this tree
as
seen. although I am not sure of it's age (trunk is hollow making
a home
for some critter or another), I am sure that it saw the arrival
of white
man to the area. It has seen many of its sisters and brothers
and maybe
its offspring cut down, the decline and rise the deer, bobcat,
turkey,
and coyote populations. It possibly saw the disappearance of cougars,
prairie chickens, bears and other life in the area. Even though
my
friend is very old (compared to me) I was happy this spring to
see that
it had started to leave out, but sadden to know the extreme cold
(lows
below 30 for six days straight) might have damage this new
growth, but
given its age it probably as seen this before.
Beth |
| Magnolia
Trees |
tuce-@msn.com |
| Apr
18, 2007 07:34 PDT |
ENTS,
The Magnolia Trees are starting to bloom here, quite a site to
behold.
I'll get some photos for you guys in Yankee Land, Bob. The Big
Leaf
Magnolias have flowers 10-12" across, growing in the
understory of the
forest. An awesome tree reaching about 40' tall and 12" Dia.
I know of a
grove of them, near Black Creek containing approx. 50 trees!
Magnolia
Grandiflora has many more flowers and grows everywhere. Hope you
guys
have a good gathering at Cook Forest, post lots of photos! See
ya in
Kentucky Larry
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