Poll: Observing the Signs of the Seasons

It has not been too cold here in the Pacific Northwest, so I have noticed my roses have a few more eyes budding; more than if it were colder as it has been in recent years past

I am counting down to Winter Solstice because then the days start to get longer and spring is on the not too distant horizon!

They are very happy with this hot and humid weather in NJ... this is the first morning I've heard them! The fireflies are still going strong, since the second half of June. I am seeing more and more butterflies now!

We had above average temps over the weekend (91 on Saturday and 85 Sunday!), but it cooled off after a late night rain and it's gorgeous this week. Daffodils are tall and beautiful. Irises are coming up nicely and the trees are nearly green again. Over the weekend, I divided a large hosta, but didn't have time to replant them, so I put them in a bucket in the garage for the time being. I looked at them yesterday and they are huge! They are so hardy.

This new blog is a good idea. Looking forward to the many signs of the seasons in other places.

Wednesday: Monticello,Charlottesville, VA, trees blossoming.

Thursday: Shelbyville, KY, Kentucky is green! 9 AM temperature 72. Indianapolis at Noon temp 44. Trees not budding Central Indiana westward through Bloomington, IL, northward through Wisconsin.

Friday: Ice on ponds and streams, Wisconsin Dells to Minong. Mass migration of large white birds high altitude over Spooner, WI.

Trees budding on descent to Lake Superior Basin. Streams gushing muddy water on South and North Shore of Lake Superior. Temps mid-50's in highlands north of Lake Superior.

Saturday at home in Little Marais on North Shore. Morning temp mid-40's. Merlin attacking nesting crows and gulls along the shore. Birches budding.

I forgot to mention last night that my hydrangeas are leafing out nicely and the native azaleas ar in full glorious bloom (wish I had a few). My own azaleas are just starting to flower. Butterfly bushes are leafing out nicely too. Monarda and lemon balm are about 2 inches tall and my monarda has really spread this year...the rain??? don't know why.

It was gorgeous here the first part of March and I planted several different colors of tulips while watching the trees bud and the wildflowers bloom all over the place giving the butterflies lots to do. Oh, how I love the butterflies! Then we had our first triple digit tempeture and I watched these beauties wilt. Now we get to enjoy two days of temps in the 60's and 70's before it goes back up into the 90's; probably the last time we'll see those temps for the next 6 months. I'm looking forward to re-potting my houseplants this weekend, too!

The pine pollen dusting is over, thanks to a week of rain,, it wasn't so bad this year. The scent of elaeagnus is heavy on the air right now and the butterflies are arriving. Saw 6 or 7 eastern tiger swallowtails today. A few early lightnin' bugs are starting to flirt but they're still high up in the trees. The fire ants have been busy and there's new hills every morning. No aphids yet but I brought some whiteflies into my greenhouse from a local nursery. One rat snake let his presence be known in my herb bed. Oh and tulip poplars are in bloom. Birds and frogs are providing plenty of music by day and night respectively. The dogwoods flowers are only just beginning to wan.

I would love to have access to a planting chart like this! Here in the Midwest I never know if we're going to get cooked early or have a late ice storm. Seems that the birds, bees, and plants know more than we do so this is a great idea!

I moved to Traverse City, Michigan area and I am getting ready to plant my garden. I plan on Worm Composting and I can use all the help I can get!

I live in the mid-atlantic and our seasons kinda suprise you. They are, however, beautiful in my yard. I plant nothing in my yard at all as every season has peri-plants that take over on their own. The most incredible are the 15 butterfly bushes. They get cut back in the late fall to around 10’ in case of blizzards and by late July are almost 16’ tall. Truely amazing butterfies of all sizes/colors along with large non-sting bees arrive late spring. Those bees are interesting as they don’t sting, allow me to move them from bush-to-bush and actually sleep on the leaves. They are totally independent of each other, yet hibernate together in a wooden post in the winter. Then, in mid-August, the monarchs arrive. They become the big summer viewing in my neighborhood. Last year there were over 80 of them that are all over the bushes. It is amazing to watch them. They stay only a month or so and are gone. I think my yard is a stop-over on their trip south. Both the bees and the butterflies make you feel blessed. Peace.

I would love to see this type of info on a chart of planting times. Here in the Pacific Northwest we get so much rain that it is sometimes difficult to find the right time to set out plant starts unless you have a greenhouse.

Most of the signs presented here represent the mid-west latitude. Here in the southeast we don't always have forsythia, and lilac, etc. I like to hear from Southeasterners about their signs. Like dogwood blossoms, hickory and walnut leaf-out, etc.

usanpn.org is a place where you can participate in contributing to a national phenology database to track global-warming's effects on our environment. 'interesting stuff; especially for gardeners.

YES!!! I would love to see a chart for planting times based on the observation of nature! This is LONG overdue! :D

I live in the desert southwest and our weather is much different than that of the rest of the USA. We have a short winter season and normally no frost. Our planting season starts on or about 12 February and stops about mid November

I live in the Pacific Northwest 80 miles north of Seattle and I plant the first crop of the season which is Peas, when my forsythia is in full bloom. I am so glad that you are doing this planting guide, I'm sure it will help me. Thank you. -- Chris

A Phenolgy map of Sping is really good. In it you can plot the sequence of plants and animals and also the retreat of winter which is what all this keys off of. Please do a map and see what it takes us to. A warming by temperture map would also be good to show what and when the warming stimulates activity. Don't forget the moisture importance in the conditions.

Every year, in mid February, I look first (or listen) for redwing blackbirds and pussywillows. Within a couple of weeks, the peepers start their annual racket. And the skunk cabbage pops up.

I live in the Mountains of Virginia, and it has always been said that"seed" potatoes need to be in the ground by Good Friday, I have always seen this to be true, as the potatoes are bigger and produce greater yields.

I can only speak for my area of Middle Tennessee, however my grandmother always said that by the 2nd Sunday in May, all trees would have fully leafed and all leaves matured. I have observed this to be true over the past 70 years.

The Dogwoods here in Owensboro, Ky are late in blooming. BradforPears, Redbuds, azaleas,lilacs,daffodials, tulips have all been in bloom. Hopefully, this year will be a better year for gardening. A drought last year made gardening hard.

Even though this area had a foot of snow less than a month ago, there was little sign of it. The growing season is getting under way due to the temperate breezes off Lake Champlain. In fact, the growing season is longer than other areas that are hundreds of miles south. No sign of much wildlife, although the fast and furious chirping of birds could be heard at dawn. In NH, I have seen many packs of wild turkeys, sometimes roaming in groups of 20 or more. It's a sight to see them high up in the trees.

I'm seeing red wing black birds. They started coming early March. Enjoy their song. The ducks are back, swimming around, too. Guess the migration happened despite this slow snowmelt. Heard a lot of animals--predators and prey--had trouble this year.

Greetings from southern New Hampshire on April 4, 2011. Still snowy here. I started hearing birds sing middle of March. Lots of robins. Folklore says that four frosts will follow the first robin sighting. Last week, I saw that our annoying chipmunk is back, despite snow up to my knees in our backyard. Argh! I also see lots of squirrels being active, perhaps mating. And the turkey vultures were at the side of the road on my way to work. The past 2 weekends, the maple sugar shacks have been boiling. I think it was a tad late this year? --Catherine B.