Click on the image and notice that ants have discovered the tulip poplar flower. These ants are not thought of as pollinators just clever at finding sweets.
Based on my Atlanta backyard observations and record keeping, I found this year's first Tulip Popular flower
windfall right on time (day 97) - see my table below. I'm curious how my first tulip poplar windfall observations correlate with other spring surrogates? The National Phenology Network leaf out model is another way to determine if spring is early, on time, or late.
Spring Leaf Index Anomaly Map uses the first leaf out of cloned lilac and honeysuckle cultivars as these woody plants are among the first to leaf out or bloom and are common across much of the country. The model also uses temperature and weather events beginning January 1 of each year. The current spring is compared with a 1991-2020 average. The map shows that the 2024 Georgia Piedmont region's first leaf out day of the year is similar to the 19-year average - spring is on time in the Georgia Piedmont region and surrounding regions show that spring is a few days early.
Other Atlanta nectar sources at this time (not shown):
- Chinese Wysteria (invasive)
- White Clover
- Spiderwort
- Amur Honeysuckle (invasive)
- Dandelion
| 1st Windfall | day of year |
|---|---|
| April 10, 2011 | 100 |
| March 27, 2012 | 87 |
| April 19, 2013 | 109 |
| April 12, 2015 | 102 |
| April 15, 2017 | 105 |
| April 5, 2018 | 95 |
| April 11, 2019 | 101 |
| April 7, 2021 | 97 |
| April 6, 2022 | 96 |
| March 24, 2023 | 83 |
| April 6, 2024 | 97 |
| median | 97 |
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