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Not really what you're asking about, but any location where trees would have to wait till say, early June (not sure of the exact date) can't support deciduous trees, only evergreen conifers would grow. I'm curious what the latest leafing trees are or rather when exactly they leaf.
Here in Denver the trees are still bare Last year at this time, they were completely green. The extended forecast calls for well above freezing temps, so they'll soon green up, but definitely late this year. How late they stay green all depends on the weather next October. I've seen it snow in Denver and drop to the teens in early October when the trees were still green, which ruins all the color. I've also seen Octobers with no hard freeze at all, so it varies widely from year to year.
How late they stay green all depends on the weather next October..
Ahh, so weather plays a role as I knew but the question is, lets just say for example sake there's an extreme year where weather turns for the cold in August after a "late" start for the leaves. Would they start dropping just 4 months after blooming?
Whats the shortest amount of time leaves have stayed on the trees anywhere. Maybe thats something we all need to start tracking now aside from weather. Future generations will be curious how much time was spent with leaves on the trees year after year.
Not really what you're asking about, but any location where trees would have to wait till say, early June (not sure of the exact date) can't support deciduous trees, only evergreen conifers would grow. I'm curious what the latest leafing trees are or rather when exactly they leaf.
This is not actually true. The pine grows everywhere until the tree limit, but two types of birch, the mountain birch and dwarf birch (not actually a tree, it's a shrub) grows higher up than the common spruce.
In Northern Lapland it may go well into June before they bloom.
Lapland is full of these, and grow only in mountainous or very cold areas. More south they are quickly replaced with other type of birches.
The latest trees that bloom here are probably oak and ash.
Once again Parts of Canada hotter than the Gulf States and even most of Florida. And once again I see Vermont hotter than CT here. I've seen this going on feels like over a week now where Vermont is in the 70s and we're mostly in the 50s/60s here.
The past week has been great here, with beautiful sunny days. Yesterday it got up to 82 at my house and 84 at SeaTac, and today it's already 80 degrees here at 1 pm. This is the best early spring in several years in the Pacific Northwest, a huge contrast to the cold, cloudy ones of the last few years.
Ahh, so weather plays a role as I knew but the question is, lets just say for example sake there's an extreme year where weather turns for the cold in August after a "late" start for the leaves. Would they start dropping just 4 months after blooming?
Whats the shortest amount of time leaves have stayed on the trees anywhere. Maybe thats something we all need to start tracking now aside from weather. Future generations will be curious how much time was spent with leaves on the trees year after year.
To protect themselves, trees have to adapt to the weather and current conditions. Some do it better, some worse. In very cold areas the average time for the leaves on the trees can be just 4 months. The aspen for some reason takes a reaaaally long time to be mature here, but still they live well above the Arctic Circle, and probably drop their leaves after just 3.5 months. The ones on my backyard are usually the last men standing of all trees, so they are very skewed towards autumn.
Many trees become increasingly resistant, so a cold spring - early autumn and hard frost may kill some species, especially if they are living on the northern edge of their possible range. Other trees just drop their leaves stunting the foliage and try again next year.
People experiment and plant different type of subtropical species that shouldn't grow here, so they can survive five years without problems and die on the sixth, depending on the winters. The winter and how cold resistant the species are is I think the main point. Specifically cold. Late and early freeze are many trees worst enemies, so in that sense your thinking is correct. I think most trees fall their leaves and prepares for hibernating instead of trying their luck and see if the weather warms up. That year the trees just grow very little, and may have a tough time surviving if the next spring is again very cold.
Future generations will most def see the leaves longer on trees than me, and see new species as well. If the global warming trend continues. Here in the north were the warming has been pronounced, it's a scientific fact. Today, on average trees bloom 12 days earlier than in 1845. When the Finnish army surrendered the Suomenlinna fort to the Russians on May 3 1808, they surrendered on the ice of the Finnish gulf. Nowadays it can be hazardous to traverse the ice in late March.
And no, I'm no expert on gardening, but have read a lot about trees the past couple of days, as it's part of this season. Probably every species act differently, even in temperate regions.
And oh yes, colder -> less vermin. So it might not be too bad to have a cold and short growing season once in a while.
This is not actually true. The pine grows everywhere until the tree limit, but two types of birch, the mountain birch and dwarf birch (not actually a tree, it's a shrub) grows higher up than the common spruce.
In Northern Lapland it may go well into June before they bloom.
Lapland is full of these, and grow only in mountainous or very cold areas. More south they are quickly replaced with other type of birches.
The latest trees that bloom here are probably oak and ash.
The fact that northern lapland is dominanted by dwarf birches rather than conifers was actually one of the biggest surprises to me when i made a visit up there some time ago. Didnt see a single conifer in kiruna for example.
Ahh, so weather plays a role as I knew but the question is, lets just say for example sake there's an extreme year where weather turns for the cold in August after a "late" start for the leaves. Would they start dropping just 4 months after blooming?
Whats the shortest amount of time leaves have stayed on the trees anywhere. Maybe thats something we all need to start tracking now aside from weather. Future generations will be curious how much time was spent with leaves on the trees year after year.
Well, the thin but dense line of trees behind my house that surround a little stream have had great difficulty getting started leafing out in the spring AND they've been shedding their leaves unusually early in the fall. Like right now, about half of the trees are still either completely bare near the tops or only have tiny leaves, while the rest of the trees in town are turning lush summery green. Come only five months from now, around October 6, and these trees will be already shedding rather quickly, as soon as they turn yellow. And they will shed alot of their leaves even before the first frost! while the majority of lows are still in the 40s!
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Last year at this time, they were completely green. The extended forecast calls for well above freezing temps, so they'll soon green up, but definitely late this year. How late they stay green all depends on the weather next October. I've seen it snow in Denver and drop to the teens in early October when the trees were still green, which ruins all the color. I've also seen Octobers with no hard freeze at all, so it varies widely from year to year.
