2 March 2024

Regardless of a number of chilly snaps, this winter has been fairly heat in Pittsburgh and the vegetation are responding. Through the previous ten days I’ve discovered:

• Woodland crocuses (Crocus tommasinianus) blooming within the grass on Neville Avenue and at Schenley Park,
• Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) at North Park,
• Flowering cherry bushes blooming at Carnegie Museum.

Regardless of these indicators of spring the general look of the land is brown. Final Sunday, 25 Feb, I took a stroll with the Botanical Society of Western PA at Hays Woods the place I realized a brand new grass.

Grease grass or purpletop (Tridens flavus) is a local bunchgrass whose seeds are oily, therefore the grease title. Claire Staples holds it towards a darkish background so we are able to see the seeds.

On Thursday I discovered a number of species of honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.) leafing out in Schenley Park.

Honeysuckle leafout is an spring indicator on the Nationwide Phenology Community (USA NPN) so I puzzled in regards to the standing of spring elsewhere. On 26 February USA NPN wrote:

How does this spring evaluate to “regular”?
After a sluggish begin to spring in Florida and components of the Southern Nice Plains, spring is spreading extra rapidly now throughout the nation. Albuquerque, NM is every week early, St. Louis, MO is 2 weeks early, and components of Washington, D.C. are 22 days early in comparison with a long-term common of 1991-2020.

— USA Nationwide Phenology Community, Standing of Spring on 26 Feb 2024

Yikes! Spring is working greater than 3 weeks early in Washington, DC!

Spring is early right here, too. Cling onto your hats, Pittsburgh! It’s time to get open air.