Coltsfoot, flowers open, 2 April 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
6 April 2025
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) has been blooming since last month but when I visited Schenley Park on Friday under overcast skies and threatening rain, all the flowers were slammed shut.
Coltsfoot flowers closed tightly under gray skies and light rain, Schenley Park, 4 April 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Many daisy-like flowers such as coltsfoot respond to lower light levels at dusk by closing their petals, then opening them as light increases after dawn. It’s a daily exercise.
Their movement is non-directional with respect to the stimulus — i.e. the petals are not flinching away — and has nothing to do with growth of the plant so it’s a nastic movement. When it occurs in response to lower light levels it is called nyctinasty.
Nyctinasty from Greek: nyct = night + nastos = pressed together.
In the morning the petals start to open again.
Coltsfoot flower opening in Schenley Park 4 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
After most are open you can see that flowers in shadow unfurl a bit later.
Coltsfoot flowers mostly open in Schenley Park, 2 April 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Watch as daisies and speedwell open and shut in response to light.
The map is derived by tracking daily weather conditions that prompt honeysuckle to leaf out. Yes, honeysuckle is invasive but it’s so pervasive and its leaves are so early that it’s a good common indicator of spring status across the country.
Here in Pittsburgh honeysuckle leaves began to emerge on 15 March in the city …
Honeysuckle status on 15 March 2025 in Frick Park (photo by Kate St. John)
… and were big and bushy yesterday, 2 April.
Honeysuckle leaves in Schenley Park, 3 April 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
It’s fascinating to watch Spring move north this year. 1 January through 2 April 2025 are shown in this animated map.
Sharp-lobed hepatica, Barking Slopes, 25 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John) …Those are not its leaves.
29 March 2025
This week saw the real beginning of flower and leaf activity at Schenley Park, Aspinwall Riverfront Park, Barking Slopes and Raccoon Wildflower Reserve.
Flowers and …
Weather makes all the difference for spring wildflowers. They show off on sunny days.
The best weather by far was on 25 March at Barking Slopes where I found a single blooming sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba), lots of harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa), cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) in the bud, and coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) opening to the sun.
Harbinger of spring, Barking Slopes, 25 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)Cutleaf toothwort flowers in bud, Barking Slopes, 25 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)Coltsfoot, Barking Slopes, 25 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Ramps! Barking Slopes, 25 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Yesterday it rained while I visited Raccoon Wildflower Reserve, though it was sunny for half an hour at the start. These spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) were open early on … before I got wet.
Spring beauties, Raccoon Wildflower Reserve, 28 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Speedwell (Veronica persica) was hiding in the grass at Aspinwall Riverfront Park last Monday. Beautiful color.
Speedwell, Aspinwall Riverfront Park, 24 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Trees: A Hint of Green and First Leaf Out
Leaf out begins in the City long before the outlying areas. On 27 March at Schenley Park the willows gave a hint of spring and native buckeyes were already leafing out.
Willows greening up at Schenley Park, 27 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
At this time of year a tree that looks red at the top is a probably a flowering red maple (Acer rubrum) — like this one in Schenley Park.
Red maple in flower, Schenley Park, 27 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
I always search for low hanging branches to photograph the flowers. On 19 March this female red maple flower was easy to reach. The male flowers are yellowish because of pollen.
Red maple flowers, The Carnegie, 19 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Also on 19 March, yellow buckeyes (Aesculus flava) were already leafing out.
Yellow buckeye leafing out, Schenley Park, 19 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
By 27 March the bottlebrush buckeyes (Aesculus parviflora) had sizable leaves.
Bottlebrush buckeye leafing out, Schenley Park, 27 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
For the next three days it will be very cloudy in Pittsburgh but the temperature in the city will range from 59°F to 78°F — basically 60-80°.
I expect more flower and leaf activity before it turns cold on April Fools Day. Cold. No kidding.
St. Patrick’s and Ireland’s shamrock symbol is a leaf cluster of either lesser clover or white clover. We don’t see much lesser clover (Trifolium dubium) in the U.S. but we used to have lots of white clover. When I was a child our lawns were a mixture of grass and white clover (Trifolium repens).
The mixture worked well because clover sets nitrogen in its roots and naturally fertilizes the grass. As kids we used to search for lucky 4-leaf clovers in the yard.
But times changed. People didn’t want weeds in the lawn and the easiest way to remove them was to spread weed killer that targeted broadleaf plants. Clover is a broadleaf so it died and fertilizer had to be added to the chemical mix.
These neighboring lawns in New Jersey show both types of lawn treatments. At top is a chemically treated lawn without broadleaf plants. At bottom is an old fashioned grass-and-clover mix. If you can’t see the dividing line, click on the photo to see the divide.
Chances are you’ll have to search for lucky 4-leaf clovers in a photo instead of on the lawn. How many are in this photo? (Click on it to see a larger version.)
p.s. False Shamrock: The “shamrock” plant often sold around St. Patrick’s Day is not related to clover. “False shamrock” or “purple shamrock” (Oxalis triangularis) is native to Brazil.
Woodland crocuses blooming in the lawn on Neville Street, 4 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
5 March 2025
The crocuses are blooming!
But of course they are. In yesterday’s sunny and unseasonably warm 67°F the woodland crocuses (Crocus tommasinianus) on Neville Street were in full bloom. I say “were” because today’s rain, clouds and wind will probably keep them closed.
The crocuses dotted the lawn, above, and opened their petals to the sun.
Woodland crocus blooming in the lawn on Neville Street, 4 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Honeybees came to take a sip.
Bee visits blooming crocuses in the lawn on Neville Street, 4 March 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Now that they’ve opened, how does this year’s crocus bloom date compare to those in the past? Is it later than usual because we had such a cold winter?
Surprisingly, this year is on the early end of the spectrum, based on my record of Crocus First-Bloom Dates in Pittsburgh’s East End since 2009.
I don’t have a crocus record but the date was probably March 7, 2016 based on temperature data, this post about coltsfoot, and feedback from Supriya in Squirrel Hill.
Plotted on the calendar it’s easy to see that the dates cluster and the outliers are early, not late. Repeated dates are circled twice. Interestingly, the dates in February become earlier each time they occur.
Honeysuckle leaves in a Too Early Spring, 20 Feb 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)
20 February 2025
Yesterday I looked back seven years and found photos of honeysuckle leafing out! Obviously we’re having a very different February than we did in 2018 when it was hotter than normal.
How does this year’s Spring status compare to years past? Here are a few photos for comparison.
Maple tree flowers: 2023 vs 2025
Only two years ago the maple trees had started blooming by now. This week the buds are still slammed shut.
Maple flowers blooming on 17 Feb 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)Maple buds slammed shut on 18 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
The Tulip Garden: 2024 vs 2025
Last year the tulip leaves were standing tall. This year they emerged and stopped.
Tulip leaves standing tall a year ago, 7 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Tulip leaves emerged and paused, 18 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
The Crocus Lawn: 2023 vs 2025
Two years ago this lawn on Neville Street was carpeted in blooming crocuses. This week it’s covered in snow.
The crocus lawn on 21 Feb 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Yesterday that lawn looked like this.
The crocus lawn on 18 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
And here’s an interesting juxtaposition …
High water comes and goes: 2018 vs 2025
The Monongahela River at Duck Hollow flooded the parking lot seven years ago. This month the highest reach was well below the parking lot.
Monongahela River flood at Duck Hollow, 17 Feb 2018 (photo by John English)Monongahela River highest water in February 2025 (so far), 3 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
This map shows why we’re confused by this news. While most of the world and everything north of us was extra hot, the Continental US was unusually cold in January 2025.
If you’ve ever been to Atlanta you’ve seen areas like the one pictured above where invasive kudzu is draped over everything. You can see why it’s called “The vine that ate the South.”
Kudzu was introduced to the Southeast U.S. back in 1883 and given a healthy head start on its way to invasion.
The vine was widely marketed in the Southeast as an ornamental plant, … as a high-protein content cattle fodder and as a cover plant to prevent soil erosion.
By 1946, it was estimated that 3,000,000 acres of kudzu had been planted [in the U.S].
17 December 2024. Old news from 2012 with a recent update.
Food is scarce in the arctic during winter and early spring, so arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii) fatten up for hibernation and cache food for later use.
When they wake up in April they have seeds in their cache to fall back on before the arctic blooms.
32,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, a ground squirrel stored food in his midden that he never ate. If everything had remained frozen no one would have known about his cache, but climate change is melting glaciers and ancient ice. Eventually the squirrel’s cache was exposed.
After they published their findings they continued their research and cultivated more seeds, identifying them as Silene linnaeana in 2021. This is the same genus as bladder campion.
Orange! at Phipps Conservatory, 12 Dec 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
14 December 2024
Color! Avoiding this week’s coldest weather, Charity Kheshgi and I visited Phipps Conservatory during their annual Holiday Magic flower show. This time I was captivated by summer colors. Orange! Yellow!
Yellow! at Phipps Conservatory, 12 Dec 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
A Major Lunar Standstill is coming up tomorrow.
The Full Moon on December 15, 2024, will rise and set at its most extreme northerly points on the horizon—the result of a once-every-18.6 years “major lunar standstill.”
How odd that just days before the winter solstice, when the sun stands still and rises and sets at its southernmost point, the moon is standing still at its northernmost point.
Watch for it tomorrow. Here’s the moon this morning with Jupiter to its left.
Jupiter and the Moon on their way to setting in the west, 14 Dec 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Rose blooming in November, 23 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
30 November 2024
Even though it’s November and getting colder and darker by the day, I found some confused flowers this week. Imported trees and plants that should be dormant were in bloom.
A rose, above, and an ornamental cherry tree were beautiful in the rain.
Ornamental cherry tree blooming in November, 23 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Moth mullein was battered but blooming on an almost sunny day.
Battered but blooming, moth mullein in November, 23 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Northern magnolia buds were swelling in anticipation of spring … even though it was late November.
Fat buds on northern magnolia, 27 Nov 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Alas, these flowers will be no match for this week’s (finally normal) freezing temperatures.
