On March 5, 2018, I checked our team's three redbud (Cercis canadensis) trees at the Duncans Chapel site in Willis, VA. The weather has been much cooler, with high temperatures only 40 to 45 F and periods of heavy rains and wind. Flower buds now are clearly visible on all three trees. On two trees, I estimated more than 1,000 flower buds. The third tree is smaller and has fewer flower buds (101-1,000). The buds are still closed, round, and clustered, but larger than in previous weeks. One tree in a particularly sunny spot has a few flower buds beginning to show the pink "redbud" color. (These flowers are still in the "flower bud" phenophase, not the "open flower" stage, because petals are not open and reproductive parts are not visible. Across all monitored redbuds, most flower buds are not yet open (< 5%) and we saw no evidence of breaking leaf buds. (Post by C. Small)
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On February 16, 2018, I monitored our team's three redbud (Cercis canadensis) trees at the Duncans Chapel site in Willis, VA. It was a warm, sunny day (63 F). After a week of unusually warm weather, with high temperatures consistently above 60 F and rain nearly every day, flower buds were clearly visible. On two trees, I estimated more than 1,000 flower buds on each tree! The buds are round and clustered, not yet open, but they are beginning to swell and seem larger than they were last week. Across all of our monitored redbuds, we did not see any evidence of breaking leaf buds or open flowers. I did notice that the redbud in our shadiest site had fewer flower buds and seemed to be developing more slowly. I wonder if it will have fewer flowers -- and fewer pollinators -- since it doesn't get as much sun? (Post by C. Small) |
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