The end of middle spring calls out bumblebees and carpenter bees all along the 40th Parallel. American toads keep on mating, and tadpoles already swim in the backwaters. Mosquitoes bite, and new hummingbird moths come out to sip the annual mass flowering of dandelions.
Asparagus cutting season arrives, along with apple, cherry, dogwood and redbud flowering season. Now comes the last of the best of late Middle Spring Flower Season with watercress and ragwort and cowslip blooming in the wetlands, thyme-leafed speedwell in the lawn, early meadow rue, rue anemone, wild geranium, large-flowered trillium and columbine all filling the parks. Along city streets, pink magnolia season replaces the white star magnolia time, complements snowball viburnum season and bridal wreath spirea season.
Daffodils and grape hyacinths hold from March, then cede to tulips. Buds on the grape vines are flushed and swollen. Privets are filling out. Branches of multiflora roses and blackberries are almost completely covered with foliage. Clematis season graces garden trellises. Lily-of-the-Valley and Star of Bethlehem open beneath them. Tucked beside the rivers, pale spikes of lizard's tail are as long as dragonflies. Last year’s catalpa seedpods fall in late April thunderstorms. Gossamer webs appear in the new grass overnight, glisten with morning dew.
This is Bill Felker with Poor Will’s Almanack. I’ll be back next week with notes for the first week of late spring, the second week of the Petal-Fall Moon and the second week of the sun in Taurus. In the meantime, look for gossamer cobwebs along your spring paths, one of the first signs of late spring.
