MaineNatureDiary

Winter World: Huh? Well…This morning, I just finished reading Bernd Heinrich’s book, Winter World. It is a great book to read if you live in the north. I’ve been poking away at it since last November. The second to last chapter is about winter buds. We are still in the flower bud stage here in Maine. The black locust have just dropped their flowers, while the basswood bloom in June and the American chestnut bloom in late July, with witch hazel far behind with its bloom in October! The flower and leaf buds are packed with nutrition, and most trees prepackage their leaves and flowers into buds in autumn. These packages then overwinter and are ready to burst forth in spring due to our short growing season.