Signs of Spring

Over the weekend, we drove from St. Louis down to northern Arkansas for a short Spring Break trip. In the three-and-half-hour drive, we saw the familiar signs of early spring that you might expect – the pink blossoms of magnolia trees blossoming in Tower Grove Park and whites of Bradford pear trees, lining many roads, both major and minor, when all the other trees appeared to be still dormant.

Given the long drive and the sheer number of Bradford pears, we noticed an interesting phenomenon – given it’s so early, many trees were actually only half in bloom, prodigiously blooming on their south-facing sides, while still looking quite wintry on their north side. And an even more marked phenomenon in our springtime journey (which was heading directly south for 200 miles): the trees were incrementally more in bloom in southern Missouri than in the central part of the state, and even more in bloom in Arkansas compared to Missouri.

During a lunch stop in a park in Poplar Bluff, Mo. (20 miles north of the Missouri-Arkansas border), I photographed this beauty.


PS - Given today's strong winds and tornados throughout the Midwest, I am wondering what shape those trees are in right now.

Comments

  1. Tracy BroschMarch 15, 2024 at 7:54 AM

    This one is a beauty! I too have been so worried for the trees in this crazy weather. Last year, ours didn't even bloom. Fingers crossed for this year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kate D.March 16, 2024 at 3:55 PM

    After reading your post, I found myself checking out the trees for uneven blooming patterns!

    ReplyDelete

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