Spring in Ohio: Not Yet, But Close

Northern Cardinal

As usual, spring is toying with us here in central Ohio. Last weekend temps were in the mid-60s. This weekend, they're...well, they're not. Walking at Inniswood Metro Garden this morning, early spring's split personality was everywhere. The birds were singing...cardinals, blue jays, and crows everywhere (and yes, crows and jays are technically songbirds, though not very melodic). I heard several red-bellied woodpeckers drumming. I've also seen dozens of turkey and black vultures in the past couple of weeks, and lots of hawks. Watch the fence posts along the interstates and you'll spot red-tailed hawks watching the fields.



The ghosts of beech leaves past



But the trees are still bare, though some are beginning to bloom. And the beeches are still holding onto last year's leaves. At one curve in the walking path, the hiker turns into an area with tiers of ghostly beech leaves on all sides, in every shade of pale tan, gold, and near-white. Those that fall to the ground are nearly transparent, like tissue paper. Most will hang on until the new leaves sprout in a couple of weeks.

Yellow iris sprouts with ice

The heavy rains that fell here in the past two weeks have filled the frog pond and the boggy area next to it. The pond is the perfect illustration of this year's not-quite-spring: fresh green sprouts of the yellow irises around the pond, standing in water with a skin of ice on top. It made my feet cold to look at them.

But spring is very close. The mosses have been green for weeks, and this week the floor of the woods is covered in green sprouts. The ferns are up, and I finally saw the first leaves of a skunk cabbage this week, though the bloom isn't up yet.

Hellebores in bloom

The cultivated gardens at Inniswood are also coming to life. The grape hyancinths and daffodils along the paths are beginning to open, and the hellebores (or lenten roses, Helleborus orientalis) are thick with blooms, from white to pink to mauve-y purple.

It's supposed to warm up again by next weekend. With any luck we'll have actual spring in another week or two.

On Undomesticated Trees and Summer Fruits

While wandering around Wyman Woods on a Friday evening, I noticed that there are a number of black walnut trees growing there. Black walnuts are interesting trees, with dark, beautiful wood and an unusual trait: their roots secrete a toxic substance called juglone into the soil around them, which prevents many types of plants from growing near the tree. Ask any gardener who's tried to grow tomatoes anywhere near a black walnut tree: it won't work. Black walnuts are not commonly used in landscaping plans; they're not particular shapely, they cause problems with other plants around them, and they drop extremely hard nuts with green husks that, when broken open, stain hands, concrete, clothing and anything else they touch a startling shade of purple-black. I think of black walnuts as sort of undomesticated trees, as opposed to the perfectly shaped hybrids usually found in city parks. Black walnuts are already bearing fruit in late June. The Wyman Woods squirrels will eat well this winter.

Many of the trees at Wyman Woods are in fruit now. Along with the usual crabapples and redbuds (this is a city park, after all), I spotted some other less common park trees. One is the hackberry, which actually is sold at nurseries as a landscape tree but unfortunately doesn't seem to be used much here in central Ohio. Hackberries have really textural corky bark, a very attractive shape, and are excellent shade trees. They also bear nearly-black berries that birds love, and aren't particularly messy when they fall (if the birds miss any).

The other very undomesticated tree at Wyman Woods is the catalpa. There are several scattered around the park, much to my delight. My grandparents had an enormous catalpa tree, which my grandpa called an "Indian cigar" tree. That was for their long, thin seed pods, which do look a little like a long, thin cigar. (Note: They taste terrible. I advise not using them to pretend you're smoking a cigar. Fortunately, of course, I would never have done anything so stupid as a child.) People who like neat, groomed lawns don't like catalpas for those seed pods, but I love them. They have large, beautiful heart-shaped leaves and spectacular blooms in the spring...and they remind me of my grandpa. The catalpas are in fruit now, too.

And lest the more usual park trees should be forgotten, the redbuds are loaded with seeds now, also...this one appears to have many more seeds than leaves.