The buds on trees and shrubs are changing dramatically this month.  Click on (some of) the bud photos to see better detail.

These MALE catkins on Betula papyrifera are beginning to lengthen —- from the ends of twigs.

We’ll keep an eye on the above male catkins for the Paper Birch.  In a few weeks they’ll expand and release pollen for the female catkins, which will emerge as the leaf buds emerge.

Below are buds from either a Black Cherry or a Choke Cherry.  We’ll monitor their development.

 

Not a bud!  But an interesting view of the Parry Sound CPR Train Trestle over the Seguin River under a stormy sky:

Here are some nice photographs of emerging buds on a rainy day: 3 pussywillows and a Tag (Speckled) Alder

Both catkins, female and male, of  Alnus incana   (subsp: rugosa) are shown in the photo below.  The male catkins are starting to puff out in preparation for their release of pollen to wind pollinate the upper female catkins.

Aha!  First flower of spring!  On a shrub.  As the male catkin matures it opens up to release pollen which are captured by the sticky pistils of the female flower.

Speckled alder again, showing an even more expanded male catkin.

Tag Alder again, with a good view of the upper female catkins.

Completely different shrub….. Elderberry

Not buds, but berries that have over-wintered.  Please click on this for your own safety.  I shared Easter lunch with a lady who had a bad encounter with this plant … and was suffering.

Here is my favorite again this year ….

It looks like a start to a good crop this year.

Mary Anne Borge has a wonderful entry in her Blog here:

https://the-natural-web.org/2013/03/10/signs-of-spring-hazelnuts-in-bloom/

 

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