Rain or shine, heat or cold, April keeps on coming.
House wrens migrate to town as velvety wild ginger leaves unfold on the hillsides. The wood grouse drums for his mate on the ground, and wood thrushes sing in the trees.
Hobblebush is leafing in the woods. Nettles are about half a foot tall in the pastures. Tadpoles swim in the pools and ponds.
Columbines and bleeding hearts are bushy and nearly a foot tall. Rhubarb leaves are bigger than a big man’s hand. Redbud branches turn violet as their buds stretch and crack, just as crab apples reach full flower.
Privet bushes are filling out. Branches of the multiflora roses are almost completely covered with foliage. Early tulips are at their peak. Virginia bluebells are in full bloom. Wild turkeys are gobbling. Deer are born and bullheads begin their spawning run.
Bleeding hearts have hearts. American toads are chanting, and hummingbird moths and bumblebees come out to sip the flowering of dandelions. Pheasants nest along the fencerows. Asparagus is up in the garden when toad trillium blooms in the woods and the first strawberries are in flower. Locusts, mulberries, ash, tree of heaven, and ginkgoes get their foliage.
Grasshoppers start jumping, and Japanese beetle grubs move to the surface of the ground to feed as the weather warms. Mounds begin to rise in the lawn as moles wake up and hunt those grubs and worms. The first daddy longlegs spiders are hunting in the undergrowth.
This is Bill Felker with Poor Will’s Almanack. I’ll be back again next week with notes for the third week of Middle Spring. In the meantime, well, yes, too much is happening to see it all. Just relax and enjoy. It’s spring!
