Hi Everybody!!
While everyone was sleeping and hiding from the cold, Spring sneaked in on a southern breeze. The sun began waking up some of the sleeping trees with warm kisses that turned to buds and blooms. My 2 red maples are budded out and one has flowers! The elm tree popped overnight. The forecast is for another Polar Vortex Icy Night to swoop down on Texas tomorrow. The blooms could be "nipped in the bud" by Old Jack Frost. Today I worked in the garden all day as the birds played all over in the trees and at the feeding stations. I got a sunburn from the Hot January Sun. I tried to grab all the sunshine and blue sky to share with You. Enjoy!

Link to photostudy in G+ Albums:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5970996459833153713

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_rubrum

Acer rubrum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acer rubrum

Conservation status
Secure (NatureServe)^[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Aceraceae^[2]
Genus:	Acer
Species:	A. rubrum
Binomial name
*Acer rubrum* L.

Acer rubrum (Red Maple, also known as Swamp, Water or Soft Maple), is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. The U.S. Forest service recognizes it as the most common variety of tree in America.^[3] The red maple ranges from the Lake of the Woods on the border between Ontario and Minnesota, east toNewfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas. Many of its features, especially its leaves, are quite variable in form. At maturity it often attains a height of around 15 m (49 ft). It is aptly named as its flowers, petioles, twigs and seeds are all red to varying degrees. Among these features, however, it is best known for its brilliant deep scarlet foliage in autumn.

Over most of its range, red maple is adaptable to a very wide range of site conditions, perhaps more so than any other tree in eastern North America. It can be found growing inswamps, on poor dry soils, and most anywhere in between. It grows well from sea level to about 900 m (3,000 ft). Due to its attractive fall foliage and pleasing form, it is often used as a shade tree for landscapes. It is used commercially on a small scale for maple syrupproduction as well as for its medium to high quality lumber. It is also the State Tree of Rhode Island.

Cultivation[edit]

Red maple is widely grown as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, except where soils are too alkaline or salty. In parts of the Pacific Northwest, it is one of the most common introduced trees. Its popularity in cultivation stems from its vigorous habit, its attractive and early red flowers, and most importantly, its flaming red fall foliage. The tree was introduced into the United Kingdom in 1656 and shortly thereafter entered cultivation. There it is frequently found in many parks and gardens, as well as occasionally in churchyards.^[6]

Mature bark, at Hemingway, South Carolina

Red maple is a good choice of a tree for urban areas when there is ample room for its root system. It is more tolerant of pollution and road salt than Sugar Maples, although the tree's fall foliage is not as vibrant this environment. Like several other maples, its low root system can be invasive and it makes a poor choice for plantings near paving. It attracts squirrels, who eat its buds in the early spring, although squirrels prefer the larger buds of the silver maple.^[12]

Red maple is also used for the production of maple syrup, though the hard maples Acer saccharum(sugar maple) and Acer nigrum (black maple) are more commonly utilized. One study compared the sap and syrup from the sugar maple with those of the red maple, as well as those of the Acer saccharinum (silver maple), Acer negundo (boxelder), and Acer platanoides (Norway maple), and all were found to be equal in sweetness, flavor, and quality. However, the buds of red maple and other soft maples emerge much earlier in the spring than the sugar maple, and after sprouting chemical makeup of the sap changes, imparting an undesirable flavor to the syrup. This being the case, red maple can only be tapped for syrup before the buds emerge, making the season very short.^[4]

Link to photostudy in G+ Albums:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5970997402337229953

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)

Spring (season)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spring is one of the four conventional temperate seasons, following winter and precedingsummer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of the term varies according to local climate, cultures and customs. When it is spring in the northern hemisphere, it will be autumn in the southern hemisphere. At the spring equinox, days are close to 12 hours long with day length increasing as the season progresses. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection, and regrowth.

Other calendar-based reckoning[edit]

According to another tradition in the United States, 2 February, Candlemas, can be regarded as the start of spring if it is mild (seeGroundhog Day). The US spring season can also be regarded as beginning on the day after Presidents' Day (the Tuesday after the third Monday in February) and ending on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend (the Friday before the last Monday in May). In South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, spring begins on 1 September and ends on November 30, and has no relation to the vernal equinox.^[6] In Ireland spring traditionally starts on 1 February, St Brigid's Day,^[7] although Irish meteorologists consider the whole of February to be part of winter.^[8]^[9]

Ecological reckoning[edit]

The beginning of spring is not always determined by fixed calendar dates. The phenological or ecological definition of spring relates to biological indicators; the blossoming of a range of plant species, and the activities of animals, or the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro flora to flourish. It therefore varies according to the climate and according to the specific weather of a particular year. Most ecologists divide the year into six seasons that have no fixed dates. In addition to spring, ecological reckoning identifies an earlier separate prevernal (early or pre-spring) season between the hibernal (winter) and vernal (spring) seasons. This is a time when only the hardiest flowers like the crocus are in bloom, sometimes while there is still some snowcover on the ground.^[10]

Natural events[edit]

A blooming Sour Cherry in spring

A blooming field of Garland chrysanthemum, a typical spring flower inIsrael

In spring, the axis of the Earth is increasing its tilt relative to the Sun, and the length of daylight rapidly increases for the relevant hemisphere. The hemisphere begins to warm significantly causing new plant growth to "spring forth," giving the season its name. Snow, if a normal part of winter, begins to melt, and streams swell with runoff. Frosts, if a normal part of winter, become less severe. In climates that have no snow and rare frosts, the air and ground temperatures increase more rapidly. Many flowering plants bloom this time of year, in a long succession sometimes beginning when snow is still on the ground, continuing into early summer. In normally snowless areas "spring" may begin as early as February (Northern Hemisphere) heralded by the blooming of deciduous magnolias, cherries, and quince, or August (Southern Hemisphere) in the same way. Subtropical andtropical areas have climates better described in terms of other seasons, e.g. dry or wet, or monsoonal, or cyclonic. Often the cultures have locally defined names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe. Many temperate areas have a dry spring, and wet autumn (fall), which brings about flowering in this season more consistent with the need for water as well as warmth. Subarctic areas may not experience "spring" at all until May or even June.

While spring is a result of the warmth caused by the changing orientation of the Earth's axis relative to the Sun, the weather in many parts of the world is overlain by events which appear very erratic taken on a year-to-year basis. The rainfall in spring (or any season) follows trends more related to longer cycles or events created by ocean currents and ocean temperatures. Good and well-researched examples are the El Niño effect and theSouthern Oscillation Index.

Unstable weather may more often occur during spring, when warm air begins on occasions to invade from lower latitudes, while cold air is still pushing on occasions from the Polar regions. Flooding is also most common in and near mountainous areas during this time of year because of snowmelt, accelerated by warm rains. In the United States, Tornado Alley is most active this time of year, especially since the Rocky Mountains prevent the surging hot and cold air masses from spreading eastward and instead force them into direct conflict. Besides tornadoes, supercell thunderstorms can also produce dangerously large hail and very high winds, for which a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning is usually issued. Even more so than in winter, the jet streams play an important role in unstable and severe weather in the springtime in the Northern Hemisphere.

In recent decades season creep has been observed, which means that many phenological signs of spring are occurring earlier in many regions by a couple of days per decade.

Spring is seen as a time of growth, renewal, of new life (both plant and animal) being born. The term is also used more generally as a metaphor for the start of better times, as in the Prague Spring. Spring in the Southern Hemisphere is different in several significant ways to that of the Northern Hemisphere. This is because: there is no land bridge between Southern Hemisphere countries and theAntarctic zone capable of bringing in cold air without the temperature-mitigating effects of extensive tracts of water; the vastly greater amount of ocean in the Southern Hemisphere at all latitudes; at this time in Earth's geologic history the Earth has an orbit which brings it in closer to the Southern Hemisphere for its warmer seasons; there is a circumpolar flow of air (the roaring 40s and 50s) uninterrupted by large land masses; no equivalent jet streams; and the peculiarities of the reversing ocean currents in the Pacific. (please see above link for complete article)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulmus_americana

Ulmus americana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ulmus americana

Ulmus americana (American elm) at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square,Pennsylvania
Conservation status
Secure (NatureServe)^[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Ulmaceae
Genus:	Ulmus
Species:	U. americana
Binomial name
*Ulmus americana* L.

Ulmus americana, generally known as the American elm or, less commonly, as thewhite elm or water elm,^[2] is a species native to eastern North America, occurring fromNova Scotia west to Alberta and Montana, and south to Florida and central Texas. The American elm is an extremely hardy tree that can withstand winter temperatures as low as −42 °C (−44 °F). Trees in areas unaffected by Dutch elm disease can live for several hundred years. A prime example of the species was the Sauble Elm,^[3] which grew beside the banks of the Sauble River in Ontario, Canada, to a height of 43 m (140 ft), with a d.b.hof 196 cm (6.43 ft) before succumbing to Dutch elm disease; when it was felled in 1968, a tree-ring count established that it had germinated in 1701.

Ecology[edit]

The American elm occurs naturally in an assortment of habitats, most notably rich bottomlands, floodplains, stream banks, and swampy ground, although it also often thrives on hillsides, uplands and other well-drained soils.^[7] On more elevated terrain, as in theAppalachian Mountains, it is most often found along rivers.^[8] The species' wind-dispersedseeds enable it to spread rapidly as suitable areas of habitat become available.^[7]American elm produces its seed crop in late spring (which can be as early as February and as late as June depending on the climate) and the seeds usually germinate right away with no cold stratification needed (occasionally some might remain dormant until the following year). The species attains its greatest growth potential in the Northeastern US, while elms in the Deep South and Texasgrow much smaller, although conversely their survival rate in the latter regions is higher due to the climate being unfavorable for the spread of DED.

In the United States, the American elm is a major member of four major forest cover types: black ash-American elm-red maple; silver maple-American elm; sugarberry-American elm-green ash; and sycamore-sweetgum-American elm, with the first two of these types also occurring in Canada.^[9] A sugar maple-ironwood-American elm cover type occurs on some hilltops near Témiscaming,Quebec.^[10]

The leaves of the American elm serve as food for the larvae of various lepidopterans (butterflies & moths). See List of Lepidoptera that feed on elms.