Last Friday the temperature started to fall and it didn’t stop until it bottomed out at a meager 4 degrees Saturday morning. Along with 30 mph wind gusts, that meant a wind chill factor of about 19 below zero. In that kind of cold flesh can freeze in 30 minutes, so I decided to wait until it warmed up a bit. By noon the temperature had risen to 15 degrees above zero with a wind chill of zero, so off I went to one of my favorite stands of American hazelnut shrubs (Corylus americana.) They grow beside the rail trail in the above photo. Snow squalls Friday night coated the ground with an inch or two of fresh powder and added to the arctic feel.
I wanted to see the hazels up close to see if the male catkins shown here had opened. They had barely started to open and didn’t look like they would have been releasing much pollen.
But much to my surprise on such a cold day female flowers were just starting to show. Each tiny crimson thread is a flower stigma protruding from the female buds. The golden catkins that we saw in the previous photo are the male flowers, and the wind blows their pollen to the female blossoms. This photo also shows how hairy this shrub’s stems are. They feel slightly prickly when you run your finger over them, and that’s an easy way to identify them.
Female hazelnut flowers are simple sticky crimson stigmas and are among the smallest flowers that I know of. I have to look up and down each stem very carefully to find them. Even then I often see only color and no real shape so I let the camera sort that out. I had been out in the weather for about a half hour and that was about all I could stand. I hope the hazel flowers weren’t hurt by it; last year I saw many that had been frost bitten.
On a warmer day I had spent some time looking at the alder catkins. The large ones in the foreground are the beautiful male catkins and the tiny ones in the upper left are the female flowers, which at this time were only showing a hint of their crimson stigmas, which are similar to female hazel blossoms in color and shape. The male catkins had already started releasing pollen so the female stigmas should have come out fully at any time, but then we’ve had this terrible cold so now I’m not sure.
Brown and purple scales on the male alder catkin are on short stalks and surround a central axis. There are three flowers beneath each scale, each with a lobed calyx cup and three to five stamens with anthers, which are usually covered in yellow pollen. The opening of alder catkins is one of the earliest signs of spring and when thousands of them open it looks like the bushes have been hung with sparkling jewels.
I was glad to see that the chubby little buds on the red elderberry hadn’t opened yet. Last year they opened early and were frostbitten. The week of 60+ degree temperatures at the end of February fooled a lot of plants. I just heard on the news that apple tree buds started opening and now orchard owners are lighting fires in barrels along the rows of trees, trying to keep them from freezing.
The bud scales on some of the red maple buds (Acer rubrum) have pulled back to reveal cups full of male anthers tightly packed together. When the fuzzy bud scales are closed they protect the flowers through winter and keep them from getting damaged by the cold.
Some red maple blossoms couldn’t wait and started showing themselves, and I’d guess that they’re probably blackened and shriveled by now. I saw many get frost bitten last year but it didn’t seem to hurt the trees any. What it will do is cut down on the number of seeds, so squirrels and other animals that eat them won’t be pleased. When maple trees blossom their sap gets bitter so seeing these flowers tells me that we’re near the end of the syrup season.
Daffodil leaves poked up out of the snow. At least it was just their leaves. Last year we had a cold snap after they had blossomed and I saw many blooms lying on the ground.
Tulip leaves were also covered by snow. I don’t know if tulips are coming up earlier each year or if I’m just not paying attention, but it seems very early for tulips.
The season of Lent began on March first, but I fear the Lenten roses (Hellebores) will give up blossoming for lent this year. The season doesn’t end until April 13th though, so I could be wrong. The flowers are beautiful and I’d like to see them, but not if there’s a chance of them being damaged by cold.
Pussy willows seem to have shrugged off the cold; they hadn’t changed since the last time I saw them.
There was no yellow showing and plenty of fur, so I’m guessing the pussy willows will be fine.
Because skunk cabbage can melt its way through ice and snow by raising their temperature by as much as 50 degrees through a process called thermogenesis I didn’t think the cold would bother them at all, but I found quite a few that had been damaged. Though the above examples look healthy many flower spathes had darkened and had become soft and rubbery. I found several like that last year and wasn’t sure why they seemed sick. Now I know.
The greatest shock for me on this day was seeing the vernal witch hazels (Hamamelis vernalis) all in bloom. I’ve never seen them bloom in this kind of cold and only time will tell if they were hurt by it. I saw this scene on Saturday afternoon and that night it dropped to 2 degrees F., so I won’t be surprised if these flowers show more brown than yellow next time I see them.
There is an old Chinese Proverb that says “Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men” and the plants, shrubs, and trees are telling me that as far as they’re concerned it is indeed spring, but the weather certainly doesn’t seem to agree. I hope that the cold doesn’t harm too many early blossoms but there aren’t many plants that I know of that can survive such a long stretch of below freezing temperatures and now snow as well. We’ll just have to wait and see.
There I was, hoping for a warm spring rain.
But instead frost flowers bloomed on my window pane.
It wasn’t right; this cold, cold March.
Instead of frost on the windows there should be blooms on the larch.
Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen. ~Willa Cather
Thanks for coming by.
Those are beautiful photos of early Spring under snow, Allen!
I think we are all done with snow here, I hope. April has been known to throw a surprise, or two. The grass is green and long, and will get mowed this week. I’m seeing many green shoots and swollen buds on trees now.
Thank you Lavinia. I’m hoping we’re done with snow too, but we could see more. I’m glad spring is happening in your area. We won’t be mowing here for a while!
I am completely in awe of your plants. They are able to survive such harsh conditions. The photograph of the hazelnut flower is amazing in this cold. The pussy willow seems the best one to cope and survive until you get some warmer weather. Amelia
Thank you Amelia. Yes, our plants always make it through the cold but the flowers sometimes misjudge the conditions and come out too early. It’ll be interesting to see what happens once spring gets here.
Beautiful photos and I very much like the proverb “Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men” which sums up my feelings this year very well.
Thanks Philip. It seems to be getting harder to know when it really is spring!
Now I’ll have to go and have a good look at the alder catkins. I learn something interesting every time that I look at one of your posts.
Thank you. I was trying to remember which blog had alder catkins on it for Clare. It must have been yours.
I love your poem, Allen! What confusing weather you have been having! I hope some of those buds and flowers survive the freeze. I think your macro shot of the alder catkin is absolutely stunning!
Thank you Clare. I’m not really sure where that came from. I must have been in a mood and not known it.
Yes, we’ve been having strange weather. We just had about a foot of snow yesterday and last night along with the January like cold. I’m ready for spring!
I think your alder catkins look a lot like ours. It seems that I’ve seen some on a UK blog but I can’t remember which one.
I posted a shot of Italian alder catkins recently but they looked nothing like your’s!
That was a severe cold snap! I was aware that you were expected to get snow there, but not those very cold temps! Oh well, over the millennia the plants have seen this before and have a strategy to survive it.
Here, on the other hand, there have been warmer temps and lots of rain. We have been only several degrees away from having many feet of snow.
Thanks Montucky! We could use some rain more than snow right now, though I suppose it will still help ease the drought.
I think the plants themselves will be fine but probably not the flowers. I’m hoping they were able to close back up and can wait out the cold!
We just returned to OH from from FL so you can imagine our shock to be greeted by such cold weather. As always, enjoyed your post!
Thank you. Yes, I can imagine. It was just two weeks ago that we had temps near 70 degrees here with crocuses and dandelions blooming.
I doubt any of these flowers are happy right now. After yesterday’s nor’easter and the prediction of more snow this weekend, I’m betting they wish they had held out longer in hopes of spring.
I think you’re probably right Laura, but I think they’ll be okay. Nature seems to always make it work out.
It is lovely to be redirected to the world of nature, especially when the human world is more than a little worrisome. Some beautiful shots here. Thank you.
You’re welcome Ben, and thank you. Nature heals.
You were brave to go out in such bitter cold, your pictures were wonderful especially the last one. Did you write the poem?
Thank you Susan. It felt like the poem wrote itself. All I did was write it down.
I can certainly relate to that process. 🙂
I’ll bet you can!
😀