The following quote has haunted me for the past five years. It is the opening of the excellent book, A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard, by John Hanson Mitchell.
“For a number of years now I have held the opinion that there are eight seasons rather than four. … There is a distinct difference between the spare, blustery landscape of late March and the lush verdure of early June, even though they both are a part of the same season.”
Mitchell’s book is called a ‘field guide,’ but it is more a meditation on noticing your local space than a traditional handbook for identifying plants or animals.
The author goes on to say,
The natural year is in fact divided into a series of mini seasons, each with its own weather patterns, its own hatchings or flowerings or deaths.
The Three Parts of Spring
It seems to me there are at least three parts to spring, which also remind me of the stages of each day dawning:
crusty early spring with stirring sap, when signs of growth are like the first light of dawn
increasing new life of spring before the leaves emerge, like dawn before the sun crests the horizon
the late spring riot of abundant leaves and blooms and animal activity, like the full light of day
Spring is a function of the tilting planet angling towards more light: lengthening day and more direct, stronger sunlight.
A walk just before sunset in late winter, for us, means a 4 pm-ish walk. By late spring we can head out just before 8 pm and enjoy the last light of day. No wonder nature responds with abundant growth as this dramatic tilt occurs. But it happens in increments.
This Spring in the Arnold Arboretum
The idea of ‘three parts to a season’ helps me organize my nature noticings.
This spring I have been working hard on essay writing for publication, and nature journaling has taken a pause. Photography has instead been my friend.
Here are some noticings from the three parts of this spring at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, where I try to take a daily walk.
The First Crack of Spring
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February - late afternoon, frosty sunset; the magnolia buds are waiting. Peters’ Hill, Arnold Arboretum
Early March - An hour’s talk, outside—rather chilly—and a walk with the Arboretum’s chief horticulturist Andrew Gapinski on his first love, the witch hazel. The Arboretum has a rich history related to this plant. Their 1907-1909 expedition discovered the first Chinese variety, and the Arboretum cultivated the first hybrid by accident, later named ‘Arnold Promise.’
To the right of the Hunnewell Building is Hamamelis vernalis, Ozark Witch Hazel.
The Ukrainian flag flies as a sign of support to colleagues at the National Botanical Garden, Kyiv.
“There’s a plant in bloom every month of the year at the Arboretum—thanks to the witch hazel.”
March - We slither and slide across crusty old snow to find more of ‘the ultimate early bloomer.’
March - In the Arboretum’s Leventritt Garden, Hamamelis mollis 'Wisley Supreme,’ a cultivar of Chinese witch hazel
This ancient Hamamelis vernalis grows by the Arboretum’s ponds. I paced it out once at 38 paces across
March - the cultivar H. intermedia ‘Diane,’ a clipping left over from the talk
March - A drive home through the snowy Arboretum
March - Beyond the foreground trees, the lilac collection on the hill lies locked in stillness. Despite the snow, the sun angle is getting higher and stronger. The snow won’t last long.
Season Two: Middle Spring
Early April - Damaged by a late March low of 19°F, this cultivar of Saucer Magnolia near the Hunnewell Building attempts to bloom
Early April - a carpet of blossoms where we’d slithered on the snow just a few weeks before
Early April - A cluster of crocuses on the side of Bussey Hill, Arnold Arboretum
Early April - A Yellowfruit Cornelian-Cherry from Belgium, near the Bussey Seep behind Bussey Hill
Early April - From the side of Bussey Hill, a view of downtown Boston; still no leaves on the trees. The air is full of bird calls—robins, assertive cardianals declaring their territory, redwing blackbirds with their whirring call, near the water—and a red-tailed hawk eyes a small dog out for a spring walk
Early April - An Arboretum for Educators’ class with Ana Maria Caballero. Having looked at pond water under microscopes in the Weld Hill Building—it was too cold to do this on-site at the pond—we wandered along Bussey Brook to see what else there was to notice.
Early April - Signs of life: a tiny snail from the Bussey Brook, Arnold Arboretum
Early April - Not so welcome signs of life! We were surprised to find these leeches on an oak leaf from the edge of Bussey Brook, Arnold Arboretum
Season Three: Full-on Spring
Late April and early May - Oh, the lovely time of crab apples on Peters’ Hill!
May - The side of Peters’ Hill, Arnold Arboretum. Robins by the dozens live here. We hear peeps that sound like three chicks as a robin hops into its hidden nest with a just-caught worm. At dusk, low flying bats scoop just above our heads, silhoueted against the last light.
The Arnold Arboretum turned 150 years old this spring!
May 2022 - the Hunnewell Building at the main entrance, 125 Arborway, Boston, reopened to the public for the first time in more than two years. The Arboretum itself stayed open for the entire pandemic and provided a welcome respite for over three million visitors in the first year.
“The Arboretum is one of the very few botanical gardens that has remained open throughout the pandemic ... These venerable old institutions ... that the public often takes for granted turned out to be the one place where you could get a sense of renewal in troubled times.”
May 2022 - celebrations underway for the United States’ oldest arboretum
May - Inside the Hunnewell Building Visitor’s Center, a huge scale model of the Arboretum’s 281 acres.
The Hunnewell is at the far top of the model. In the foreground is Peters’ Hill, where I most frequently walk, with the crab apples shown in bloom.
May - An evening meadow slope of buttercups
May - Gleanings from the meadow for my dawn desk
May - A woodland slope of violets, Peters’ Hill
Finally, the Time of Lilacs
May - An annual celebration since 1908, the Arboretum’s Lilac Sunday is held on U.S. Mother’s Day each year. The lilac collection reached peak bloom this year a little later due to the cold spring.
There are 869 plants in the collection, representing 177 kinds of lilacs
The smell is intoxicating and fills the entire area. It greets you, wafting over the hill, before you see the lilacs.
Here Come the Leaves!
May - Tender new leaves of the Sawtooth Oak, Quercus acutissima, as the sun sets
May - A sea of pinkshell azaleas and the full-out leaves of the lovely Painted Maple at late dusk, near 8pm. Nearby, two trees teem with grey tree frogs who call loudly to each other as the light fades.
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More on witch hazels from the Arboretum's magazine Silva
A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard (Second Edition), John Hanson Mitchell, The Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1999, 2014. Mitchell is “an internationally recognized naturalist and advocate for tuning your senses to the wonders of your environment.” [Affiliate link; a small percentage of the sale helps fund this site]