2009 2010 2011
Day of Year Day of Year Day of Year
Bradford Pear 65 79 60
Carpenter Bees 68 87 72
Acer palmatum leaf out 73 92 77
Flowering Dogwood 80 93 80
Asian Wisteria 83 96 81
Carolina Cherry Laurel 73 97 83
In Atlanta, the arrival of the 2011 spring markers are remarkably similar to 2009. So, as not to color my 2011 observations, I have intentionally not reviewed my old journal notes......too much. Picking "the date" for these spring markers requires more patience and discipline than I am always prepared to apply. Naturally, I want to escape winter and embrace spring.....ticking-off the entire spring marker list during one warm day. My journal contains spring marker dates which sometimes appear in different months. So, the dates are converted to day-of-year to make the comparison between years easier.
I speculate that this year, enthusiastic yard clean-up has made it less obvious to spot the arrival of the invasive Asian Wisteria bloom near "my local" coffee shop. My wood deck is a dependable habitat for those territorial wood nibblers (a.k.a. carpenter bees) who emerge/return to same piece of lumber each year. For example, the carpenter bee arrival are observations only recorded in my backyard....another self imposed rule to my scheme.
Day of Year Day of Year Day of Year
Bradford Pear 65 79 60
Carpenter Bees 68 87 72
Acer palmatum leaf out 73 92 77
Flowering Dogwood 80 93 80
Asian Wisteria 83 96 81
Carolina Cherry Laurel 73 97 83
In Atlanta, the arrival of the 2011 spring markers are remarkably similar to 2009. So, as not to color my 2011 observations, I have intentionally not reviewed my old journal notes......too much. Picking "the date" for these spring markers requires more patience and discipline than I am always prepared to apply. Naturally, I want to escape winter and embrace spring.....ticking-off the entire spring marker list during one warm day. My journal contains spring marker dates which sometimes appear in different months. So, the dates are converted to day-of-year to make the comparison between years easier.
I speculate that this year, enthusiastic yard clean-up has made it less obvious to spot the arrival of the invasive Asian Wisteria bloom near "my local" coffee shop. My wood deck is a dependable habitat for those territorial wood nibblers (a.k.a. carpenter bees) who emerge/return to same piece of lumber each year. For example, the carpenter bee arrival are observations only recorded in my backyard....another self imposed rule to my scheme.
