What to See This Week

Sometimes rainy, gray days help colors stand out even more. Around The Arboretum you will notice several daffodils already blooming. Expect to see even more over the coming weeks as a variety have been planted with differing bloom times.

Forsythia is another favorite spring bloom. These shrubs act as an indicator that spring is on its way but has not yet arrived. According to folklore, from the time forsythias bloom, three more snow falls can be predicted. While the actual number of snows may vary, blooming forsythias do suggest we are not quite done with winter yet, especially at the start of this week!

Now we zoom in on some exciting developments on the forest floor in the Woodland Garden. Plenty of spring ephemeral wildflowers have begun to appear, although for now it is mostly just the leaves. Pictured here are the feathery leaves of dutchman’s breeches, beautiful on their own but they will soon be accompanied by small white flowers in the shape of upside-down pants.

Large-leaf waterleaf is beautiful this time of year. The new leaves have a unique pattern with paler patches. As the leaves grow and mature, the patches eventually fade. Don’t expect blooms for another several weeks, waterleaf blooms later than many of the spring ephemeral wildflowers.

Virginia bluebells are beautiful in bloom, but this early on the leaves can be hard to spot amongst the leaf litter. They begin as a deeper purple color due to high amounts of anthocyanin pigment but as the plant matures the anthocyanin breaks down and the leaves become a soft green.

While wandering around the Woodland Garden, you never know when you might find something downright bizarre. This black cherry tree was covered in a gooey substance all the way up and around the trunk and there was even a large puddle of the goo beneath the tree! This is called gummosis, a symptom indicating stress, injury, or disease and especially occurs in fruit trees. The exact cause on this tree is unknown but without signs of injury or disease, it is likely that a combination of adverse weather conditions increased stress.

Keep an eye out at the wetlands and you may spot a muskrat swimming through the water. This one was seen at Dutch Fork Wetlands. Muskrats are semi-aquatic rodents and are great swimmers. While they may be associated with beavers due to their aquatic nature, beavers are much larger animals weighing 10-15 times more than a muskrat. Muskrats also have a more rat-like tail as opposed to the paddle-like tail beavers have. Both critters can be found at The Arboretum. 

The Bird Watching Garden is not just for birds! With some patience and attention to detail, you may spot a shrew that has made its home in the garden. Shrews are not rodents but instead fall into an entirely different order of mammals along with moles. Shrews have tiny eyes and poor eyesight, but luckily their fine sense of touch is handier when spending so much time under ground or buried in leaf litter.