I know this photo of Mount Monadnock doesn’t look very spring like but we got a dusting of snow Friday and I wanted to see how much fell in other places. They got about 3-4 inches in Troy where this was taken, but I’d guess there is a lot more up there on the mountain. I climbed it in April once and in places the snow was almost over my head. It was a foolish thing to do; I got soaked to the skin.
In lower altitudes flowers were blooming in spite of it being a cold day and I finally found some coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara.) The flowers on coltsfoot plants come up before the leaves show so there is no hint of when it will appear. You have to remember where you’ve seen it last year and revisit the places the following spring. This was taken last Saturday and I’m guessing that there are a lot more blooming now, so I’ve got to get back there and see. Coltsfoot is native to Europe and Asia and was brought here by early settlers. It has been used medicinally for centuries and another name for it is coughwort.
The male catkins of American hazelnut (Corylus americana) have lengthened and turned golden, and that’s a sure sign that they’re almost ready to release their pollen.
It wouldn’t make sense for the male hazelnut catkins to release their pollen unless the female blossoms were ready to receive it, so when I see the male catkins looking like those in the previous photo I start looking for the female blossoms, like those pictured here. If pollinated successfully each thread like crimson stigma will become a hazelnut.
Female American hazelnut flowers are among the smallest flowers that I try to photograph but size doesn’t always come through in a photo, so I clipped a paperclip to the branch to give you an idea of scale. That isn’t a giant paperclip; it’s the standard size, so you have to look carefully for these tiny blooms. Male catkins and female flowers will usually be on the same bush. Though the shrubs that I see aren’t much more than 5-6 feet tall I just read that they can reach 16 feet under ideal conditions. The ones I see grow along the edges of roads and rail trails and are regularly cut down. In fact I had a hard time finding any this year. I went to one spot near powerlines and found that hundreds of them had been cut.
A week ago I saw 2 dandelion blossoms. This week I saw too many to count and some had insects on them, so it looks like we’ll have a good seed crop before too long.
Each stalked brownish-purple bud scale on a male speckled alder catkin (Alnus incana) opens in spring to reveal three male flowers beneath, each with a lobed calyx cup and three to five stamens with anthers covered in yellow pollen. The flower parts are clearly visible in this photo but even though it is heavily cropped they are still tiny. The entire catkin is only about 2 ½ inches long.
Just like with the male American hazelnut catkins we saw earlier, when I see the male catkins open on alders I start looking for the female flowers. In this photo the tiny scarlet female stigmas poke out from under the bud scales on all sides of the catkin. The whitish material is the “glue” the plant produces to seal each shingle like bud scale against the wet and cold winter weather. If water got under the bud scale and froze it would kill the female blossoms. When pollinated each thread like female stigma will become a small cone like seed pod (strobile) that I think most of us are used to seeing on alders. These female flowers aren’t much bigger than the female hazelnut flowers we saw earlier so you need good eyes. Or good glasses.
Red elderberry buds (Sambucus racemosa) often break quite early as this one has, and they often pay for it by being frostbitten. But, though it was 18 degrees F. the night before and this one had ice on it, it looked fine. Each small opening leaf looked great all the way to the tip with no damage.
Many of the red maple (Acer rubrum) female blossoms in this area are fully opened now, so from here on it’s all about seed production. I’m looking forward to seeing their beautiful red samaras. The male blossoms have dried and will simply fall from the trees once they have shed their pollen. Sugar maple buds haven’t opened yet that I’ve seen.
At a glance the buds of striped maple (Acer pennsylvanicum) don’t look like they’ve changed much since January, but you have to look a little closer to see what’s going on.
Once you turn the buds of striped maple sideways you can see that the bud scales have come apart, revealing the bud inside. These pink and orange fuzzy buds will be some of the most beautiful things in the forest in a while and I’d hate to miss them. That’s why I check them at least weekly, starting about now. These buds illustrate perfectly why you have to be willing to touch things in nature and bend or turn them whenever possible so you can see all sides, otherwise you can miss a lot of beauty. When I take photos I try to get shots of all sides, and even under the caps of mushrooms when possible. Most of them are never seen by anyone but me but I can choose the best ones to show you.
From a distance I couldn’t see any yellow flowers on the willows but my camera’s zoom showed me that there were plenty of them. It was one of those sun one minute and clouds the next kind of days, with a blowing wind.
The bees will be very happy to see these blossoms, which are some of our earliest to appear. Willow bark contains salicin, a compound found in aspirin, and willows have been used to relieve pain for thousands of years.
Last week the tiny white flowers of what I think are hairy bittercress plants (Cardamine hirsuta) were ground hugging, but this week they stood up on 4 inch tall stalks. That’s a lot of growth in a week. I’ve read that the seed pods are explosive, so having them as high up as possible makes perfect sense.
Out of a bed of probably 50 hyacinths a single one is about to bloom. Most have buds that have just appeared and aren’t even showing color yet, but this one just doesn’t want to wait. I hope it knows what it’s doing. It’s still getting down into the teens at night.
The daffodil bud that I saw last week and thought would be open this week was not, but it had a visitor. Some type of fly I think, but I’m not very good with insects. It’s not a great photo but it does show that there are indeed insects active. I also saw a hoverfly but I haven’t seen a bee yet.
In spite of it being a sunny day all the crocuses had closed up shop but the reticulated irises (Iris reticulata) were still open for business. They’re beautiful little things.
The tiny ground ivy flowers (Glechoma hederacea) are still showing on a single plant that is surrounded by hundreds of other plants that aren’t blooming. It’s clearly working harder than the others. It must have had ten blossoms on it.
So the story from here is that though spring is happening winter hangs on as well. The last snowstorm dusted my yard with snow that looked like confectioner’s sugar and it melted overnight, but just a few miles north at Beaver Brook the hillsides got considerably more. Chances are it is still there too, because it has been cool. Sooner or later it’s bound to warm up and stay the way. The weather people say there’s a chance we might see 50 degrees today and 70 degrees by Saturday. We’re all hoping they’ve got it right.
The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
~Robert Frost
Thanks for coming by.
Your flowers seem to coming out in a shorter time span than ours do. It looks like the cold keeps them back and they are all bursting forth together. Ours have a more staggered flowering – time wise. Amelia
Thank you Amelia. I think the cold has held some of them back so they are a bit bunched up. I don’t usually see hyacinths blooming with crocuses.
Very interesting pictures of the hazelnut catkins and flowers.
Thanks!
No matter how small that they are, the flowers that you found are all beautiful in their own way. I did try looking for a few of the ones that you put into this post, but I think that all the plants here are at least two weeks behind where yours are at now.
I think that the image of the fly is excellent also. I have seen a few insects here, and I thought that they’d be moving slowly due to the cold, but they’re just as fast as they are in the summer despite the cold.
I loved the view of Mount Monadnock covered in snow, but as you learned the hard way, I wouldn’t want to try climbing it until the snow was gone. But such a view would make it much easier to deal with snow in April.
Thanks Jerry! You could be right about us being ahead. Our snow is pretty much gone now but it’s still cool. The flowers are still coming though, in spite of the cold.
I’ve seen insects flying normally too but I haven’t seen a bee or wasp yet.
That view of Monadnock is a pleasure to see at all times of year but it is particularly beautiful with snow on it, and it does make winter a little more enjoyable.
Quality photographs and information as ever. I liked the willow best among your gallery.
Thank you. There will be plenty more of those here, I’d guess.
Actually, who the heck knows how it is this April? Let’s just say you are way ahead of us here in central Maine.
Thank you Laurie, I agree. It’s hard to keep up with the many changes. The only thing that’s been consistent here is the cold. So far every day of the month but 2 have been below average.
I hope we’ll all get to enjoy at least average temps before long.
Fingers crossed!
Thanks for the flowers! Yes, Spring’s on its way, but winter says not so fast. You’ve just inspired me to reblog my poem about this problem. Thanks for the inspiration! Bloggers do inspire each other.
Thank you Cynthia, glad I could help!
Bloggers do inspire each other. I get a lot of good ideas from reading blogs.
Your spring plants are still far ahead of ours. A few new wildflowers have bloomed, but tomorrow our high country is expected to receive another 8 inches of snow with some coming down as low as 3200 feet.
Thanks Montucky! We had snow just the other day but it didn’t amount to anything.
I’m hoping to see trout lilies and spring beauties before long!
This is such an enjoyable post. It makes it feel a little more like spring as you show us the details of blooms and buds so expertly. I like the paperclip for scale. The insect is interesting. Just enjoyable and informative as always. I do believe this will be a year for weather records of all extremes.
I really enjoy hearing about the medicinal properties of the plants. I do think seeing the promises of spring makes us all feel younger and filled with hope. Not a thing wrong with your eyes.
Thank you Penny. You could be right about weather records. This will probably go down as one of the coolest springs we’ve had.
But at least it’s spring and flowers are blooming. Soon the forest floors will be carpeted with wildflowers.
Those hazel flowers are beautiful; I’m glad you’ve found some at last. Even though you might still be getting winter temperatures nature knows it is springtime and there is no stopping it now!
Thank you Clare, I knew I’d see them eventually.
No, spring is here to stay but it does look like it’s going to be a cool one. Probably one of those years where we go from winter right into summer with barely a spring to remember.
I think you’re right. We may have the same experience. It is still very cool here and we have had fog for the last few days. Temperatures in the 70’s forecast for the weekend!
They were saying 70s for our weekend but have now knocked it back to the 50s, with rain. We’ll get there eventually!
How disappointing! We now find it won’t be as warm for us too and there will be more rain on Sunday!
I’m sorry to hear that. I know just how you feel.
Odd that our weather is so much the same.
It *is* strange!
My word you have got sharp eyes, what a lot of interesting signs of Spring you located. They were beautiful too.
Thank you Susan. I just know where and when to look. My eyes really aren’t that good.
Are you kidding? That fly/daffodil photo is GREAT!
Thank you. I thought it could have been sharper, but it could just be my aging eyes.
Agree- perfect Frost quote. Also appreciate the paperclip tip!
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Thank you Cathy. I’ve learned to carry a paperclip whenever I go looking for hazel flowers!
Amazing Allen. Thank you!
You’re welcome Rich, and thank you!
Robert could have written that today. 🙂
Yes, he must have had an April just like this one!
🙂