Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
During the autumn, is any place that has lots of colorful foliage, you'r apt to come across foliage reports, usually pertraining to the progress of the vegetation as it transitions from deep summer green to a bare winter landscape. Generally speaking, there are seven phases that occur:
*No Color/Still Green
*Low/Patchy Color
*Moderate/Good Color
*High Color/Near Peak
*Peak Color
*Past Peak
*Bare
But how about if a springtime equivalent (trying to get into the seasonal spirit with more snow forecast) was comprised? That said, I've come up with the following:
*Still Bare
*Very Early (grass just starting to turn green, a few isolated trees budding, witch hazel/snowdrops/early crocus)
*Early (grass mostly green, numerous trees budding and some early varieties blooming; early daffodils, crocus, hyacinth, forsythia, red maples, spring peepers starting to get louder)
*Mid (grass fully green, some small leaves appearing on trees, especially shrubs/understory, numerous flowering trees, bulbs peaking such as most daffodils, tulips. Birdsong reaching its peak)
*Late (most trees leafing out, later bulbs/shrubs, lilac, dogwoods, earlier irises, lily-of-the-valley)
*Past peak (leaves fully leafed out, tulip trees, locust blooms, roses starting to bloom, irises, peonies, other early perennials, trees starting to deepen to a deeper green, lightning bugs at night very soon, spring peepers getting replaced by tree frog sounds at night)
*Finished (basically a summer scene now with trees now a deep green and bug sounds mixing in with the birdsongs)
With this in mind, I'd consider the "mid" and "late" period the equivalent of peak fall foliage. Sometimes though, the variety may differ from region to region. With that said, when does such "spring peak" occur with you? Here in central MD, it's the later half of April on average, though generally speaking it lasts longer due to several different cycles that occur over the spring season.
here in north florida oak trees start to bud in late february... some red oaks fully bloomed at the end of february (i've seen a few like that this season even though we had freezing temps a few weeks ago, not sure how that happened)...
only about half of our tree population is deciduous though, the rest are a nuisance shedding a little all year.
so peak spring for us would be very early march (right about now). and just a few hundred miles north i visited Hendersonville, NC and trees were still bare in mid April!
*Still Bare: late March, early April
*Very Early: early April. No trees budding, but notice that our grass doesn't turn brown during mild winters
*Early: mid-late April. Trees still bare. daffodils and hyacinths start to bloom, trees budding
*Mid: late days of April. Undergrowth starts leafing, flowes blooming, early trees starts to have visible green, all trees budding
*Late: early May. Leaves grow larger every day, depending on how many freezes we have
*Past peak: mid-late May, depending on how warm the nights are
*Finished: late May
We have green grass all year (apart from summer). The first flowering plants bloom in December or January (gorse, snowdrops, crocus), with daffodils etc blooming in Feb/Mar. Trees start to bud in Feb, with cherry blossoms in March. By late April, most trees are fully in leaf (oaks usually in early May).
Sounds like about the same, maybe a week earlier some years. I'd say our "late" stage is late April and "early" stage mid April not late April, maybe even early April. Our warm-up is faster than yours, so makes sense.
In Rimini the grass is green all year round, and there are flowers in each season, including autumn and winter. Flowering peak is late March-early April.
Flowering *Still bare/Very early Until mid January. Loquats, viburnums. Bergenias, roses, iberis. Mid January to mid February. Winter jasmines, calicanthus. *Early Late February to early March. Almonds, apricots, apples, pears, prunus. Cherries, daffodils, daisies, forsythias, hyacinths, japanese magnolias, japanese quinces, peaches, primroses, tulips, violets. *Mid Late March to mid April. Judas trees. Carnations, hawthorns, iris, lilacs, peonies, periwinkles, wisterias. *Late/Past peak Mid to late April. Arum lilies, brooms, campanulas, hemerocallis, japanese persimmons, mesembryanthemums, oleanders, philadelphus, photinias, pittosporums, pomegranates, rosemaries, spiraeas, star jasmines, trumpet vines. *Finished Early May-early July. Acacias, robinias, southern magnolias, tamarisks. Crepe myrtles, Hottentot figs, hypericums, lavenders, ligustrums, passion flowers, roses of Sharon.
Leafing *Still bare/Very early
Until late February. Only evergreen plants have leaves on. *Early Early to mid March. Almonds, apricots, apples, pears, prunus, willows. Calicanthus, cherries, forsythias, hazels, japanese quinces. *Mid Late March to early April. Alders, birches, hornbeams, horse chestnuts, japanese persimmons, lindens, maples, poplars. Hawthorns, japanese magnolias. *Late/Past peak Mid to late April. Acacias, figs, Judas trees, London planes, English oaks, robinias, tamarisks. Crepe myrtles, jujubes, pomegranates, roses of Sharon, trumpet vines. *Finished Late April. All the plants have leaves on.
here in north florida oak trees start to bud in late february... some red oaks fully bloomed at the end of february (i've seen a few like that this season even though we had freezing temps a few weeks ago, not sure how that happened)...
only about half of our tree population is deciduous though, the rest are a nuisance shedding a little all year.
so peak spring for us would be very early march (right about now). and just a few hundred miles north i visited Hendersonville, NC and trees were still bare in mid April!
It is not the 400 miles north from Jacksonville that makes the difference with the leafing of the trees, it is the fact that Hendersonville sits at 2200 feet in elevation. Makes a huge difference. Philly is 700 miles north of Jacksonville and even during the coolest of springs here trees are never bare in mid April. They may not be fully leafed out, but there are certainly budding with some green on the trees and flowering going on. Richmond, VA is 560 miles north of Jacksonville, and after the very cold winter and spring of 2014 this is Richmond at April 9th 2014:
It does not look like bare trees to me and it isn't even mid April yet. In warmer years our trees are fully leafed out in mid April. You just can't use last year as a gauge of anything remotely equal to "average" as Jan, Feb, March and April were all well below average in temps.
This issue comes up it seems every year with people saying how dead looking it is here in Spring. Hogwash. Only because last year was so cold. I can bet that if England or Europe had the winter and spring we did last year their trees wouldn't be leafed out in mid April.
I posted this last year in response to this same topic:
*Still Bare
*Very Early (grass just starting to turn green, a few isolated trees budding, witch hazel/snowdrops/early crocus)
*Early (grass mostly green, numerous trees budding and some early varieties blooming; early daffodils, crocus, hyacinth, forsythia, red maples, spring peepers starting to get louder)
*Mid (grass fully green, some small leaves appearing on trees, especially shrubs/understory, numerous flowering trees, bulbs peaking such as most daffodils, tulips. Birdsong reaching its peak)
*Late (most trees leafing out, later bulbs/shrubs, lilac, dogwoods, earlier irises, lily-of-the-valley)
*Past peak (leaves fully leafed out, tulip trees, locust blooms, roses starting to bloom, irises, peonies, other early perennials, trees starting to deepen to a deeper green, lightning bugs at night very soon, spring peepers getting replaced by tree frog sounds at night)
*Finished (basically a summer scene now with trees now a deep green and bug sounds mixing in with the birdsongs)
Time frame for central North Carolina:
Still bare: December-mid February
Very early: late February-early March
Early: mid-late March
Mid: early April
Late: mid-late April
Past peak: early May
Finished: mid May-early September
Time frame for central North Carolina:
Still bare: December-mid February
Very early: late February-early March
Early: mid-late March
Mid: early April
Late: mid-late April
Past peak: early May
Finished: mid May-early September
Here in central MD, we're typically about a week to 10 days behind yours, with the summer green pretty much lining up with "pool season" (Memorial Day weekend-Labor Day). We're a little slow this year as we've just started to cross into the "Very early" stage as of Thursday when I saw the first crocus blooming, and as of today the grass is still about 95% bare. The warmest we've been so far this year is Typically, around here the first 70F degree day takes us into the "Early" stage, 75 degrees into "Mid", 80 degrees into "Late", 85 into past peak, and 90 degrees into finished.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
