Spring Blooms

Well, how is this weather for flip-flopping between winter, spring and even summer over the course of the last few weeks! Maple syrup season has come and is now long gone. While temperatures suggested late winter at the beginning of March, last week felt like mid-summer with the mercury soaring into the high 20s. It wasn’t just me that noticed either. The birds are back and nesting like crazy. The grass is green as anything and I have heard mowers out already. And the trees have been psyched out into budding early this year as well. It is March, yet the local Magnolia trees exploded into bloom last week, only to be caught in frosts by the weekend. Surprising?  I think not.

Early flowering Forsythia

So what else has the crew at CLC Tree Services seen blooming on the early side this year? You can’t miss the plethora of bright yellow bushes that decorate yards all over London. They will fade to green soon enough, but the forsythias are a cheery addition to early spring landscaping, to be sure.

Lilac

While usually we can’t look forward to the heady scent of lilacs until closer to May, it looks like they will be blooming early too. I have spied leaves already furled open and flower buds beginning to grow. The cooler temperatures expected this coming weekend might slow down that process, but I expect they will be ahead of schedule nonetheless.

Flowering crab apples are also taking advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures to tint their bare branches with a flush of fresh burgundy leaves. While most species will see those early leaves turn green, we are still in for a treat when the flowers burst forth in a beautiful canopy of red, pink or white blossoms in the coming weeks.

Redbud tree

What about redbud trees? I have heard tell they are beginning to flower as close as in the Detroit area. They certainly add a colourful display to early spring gardens in shades of purple and pink through red. A native species to Canada, this ornamental tree is happy in full sun to shade, so if you are looking for a new tree to add spring interest to your yard, perhaps this relatively small tree might be the perfect choice for you!

Many of the other trees that I have passed recently have buds on them as well, whether they have fully burst yet or not. As I might bore you to list them all, I thought I would share a slideshow I came across showcasing a wide variety of spring buds instead. How many of these buds can you recognize and which ones are blooming in your yard? Ah rebirth, you just can’t beat those spring blooms!