Signs of Spring

[veggiewolf]

(Wasn't sure where to put this, I guess here fits well enough...)

The red-winged blackbirds are back in town! :

What signs of spring are springing up in your area? Or autumn, for all the down-under folks?

 
This morning, on my way to my parents', I saw that the skunk cabbage is up!

(Yes, that's one of my spring indicators.  The daffodils come up way before real spring here.)

Also, the redbuds are in bloom, and the forsythia is budding.

[Myst Moonlight]

Word.

Of course right after I start this thread, it snows 15 cm overnight ... and yet it's been 10C all day today. Seriously, WTF?

 
Things have been unstable here too, but maybe just over half of the snow has melted, and today I saw some green grass. Just a few traces so far but things are finally on track for the return of life in Newfoundland.

[yewberry]

What signs of spring are springing up in your area? Or autumn, for all the down-under folks?

 
Tomorrow I'm going to collect Japanese knotweed shoots.  They just came up and are nice and tender.

Brina

[Nyktipolos]

I SAW GRASS.

Will report more as I see it.

[Sefiru]

Tomorrow I'm going to collect Japanese knotweed shoots.  They just came up and are nice and tender.

Brina

Never heard of those, what do they taste like? Are they actually from Japan or native to the PNW?

[Allaya]

Tomorrow I'm going to collect Japanese knotweed shoots.  They just came up and are nice and tender.

Brina

 
Aaaaaaaaand thank you for indirectly identifying the one plant in an abandoned section of my neighborhood that has defied identification for quite some years. It's technically on the national "kill on sight" list due to invasiveness but, in the ten years I've observed it, the clump hasn't expanded at all and is hemmed in on all sides. I think I shall keep the secret since now that I'm reading more about the plant the burn healing properties of the roots seem pretty amazing.

[yewberry]

Never heard of those, what do they taste like? Are they actually from Japan or native to the PNW?

 
They're a nasty invasive, so nobody cares if you harvest them, especially when they're young.  They're a member of a buckwheat family and taste similar to rhubarb.

Brina

[beith]

I SAW GRASS.

Will report more as I see it.

 
Our grass just got covered in snow.  I hope yours did not.

[quarks]

Our grass just got covered in snow.  I hope yours did not.

 
Our grass got covered in snow last night.  At least the streets stayed clean.  I cannot wait for permanent warmer weather, though permanent weather in Nebraska is probably a myth.

[Nyktipolos]

Our grass just got covered in snow.  I hope yours did not.

Unfortunately it did again, although it has/will be melting off pretty quickly as the temps go back up.

It has snowed in May here before so I'm not surprised.

[beith]

Unfortunately it did again, although it has/will be melting off pretty quickly as the temps go back up.

It has snowed in May here before so I'm not surprised.

 
I'm a little surprised you said May instead of June!

Last year in April we got about a foot of snow every week with about a foot on the ground heading into May 1st.  So I'll take our 3" last night that is almost completed melted already.  Glad yours is melting as well.

(That's about 30 cm and 7 cm respectively for my metric friends)

[SunflowerP]

It has snowed in May here before so I'm not surprised.

 
It's not even unusual for that to happen here - about 1/3 to 1/2 of the years, we get a big May snowstorm. Wet snow, and after the storm's over it melts pretty quickly, but it can be quite deep.

Sunflower

[Nyktipolos]

It's not even unusual for that to happen here - about 1/3 to 1/2 of the years, we get a big May snowstorm. Wet snow, and after the storm's over it melts pretty quickly, but it can be quite deep.

Sunflower

 
*nods*

Speaking of which, it is snowing again today, but it's of the small and light kind, and it's not sticking.

[Nyktipolos]

I'm a little surprised you said May instead of June!

Last year in April we got about a foot of snow every week with about a foot on the ground heading into May 1st.  So I'll take our 3" last night that is almost completed melted already.  Glad yours is melting as well.

(That's about 30 cm and 7 cm respectively for my metric friends)

 
Hahaha. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if that had happened before? But thankfully by May we usually don't have snow except for the odd occurrence.

I for one am real damn tired of winter and am glad it's on it's way out. ... Very, very slowly.

[Altair]

The red-winged blackbirds are back in town! :

What signs of spring are springing up in your area?

The same! Hearing the first red-wing is my #1 sign of spring. It usually happens here in the metro NYC area at the end of Feb beginning of March...as it did this year, despite our prolonged polar vortex.

But with the last few days of temps notching above 70 for the first time since October, spring has busted out all over. In the last 4 days you could almost see the leaves growing, as if the warmth had finally given the buds the OK and they couldn't wait another minute to unfurl. Now that lovely light-green filigree that only lasts for a few days in early spring has spread its lacy lattice everywhere.

And the migrant songbirds have begun to arrive! The vanguard species--palm warbler, blue-headed vireo, blue-gray gnatcatcher, hermit thrush--were all present in Central Park this morning, my first "official" day out for the spring migration season.

I'll be in the park every day from now until Memorial Day, barring heavy rain. It's kind of all-consuming for me, so my presence here at the Cauldron will be limited until nearly June.