Larry Weber

1 week ago | pinejournal.com | Larry Weber

Along with the summer solstice, days in June give plenty of sunlight, reaching nearly 16 hours. We also get warm and frequently, a good amount of rain. Traditionally, June is our wettest month. Putting together the weather of long days, warmth and wet, June is ripe for growing, and we see this all around us. Lawns get mowed every few days. Gardens respond with the first produce of the season.

2 weeks ago | pinejournal.com | Larry Weber

It seems like it was not long ago that we looked at the forest floor of deciduous trees and we noted carpets of the early spring wildflowers. Having a short lifetime and a need for direct sunlight, they grew fast. Flowers, such as bloodroot, spring beauty, hepatica and trout lilies, quickly formed stems and leaves above the ground and opened their flowers to be pollinated by early flying bees. They were in a hurry. Their sunny site would not last long.

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Larry Weber

Jun. 6—The day is cloudy with a cool east wind. About 40 degrees when I go for my morning walk. Many of the newly arrived migrant songbirds would have trouble feeding on this kind of day. I decide to go to a bay where one shoreline is a shelter from this chilly wind. Along the route, I see some spring wildflowers — yellow violets, wood anemones and starflowers — that are looking normal despite the weather. Lady and interrupted ferns are unrolling their new growth for this coming season.

3 weeks ago | pinejournal.com | Larry Weber

The day is cloudy with a cool east wind. About 40 degrees when I go for my morning walk. Many of the newly arrived migrant songbirds would have trouble feeding on this kind of day. I decide to go to a bay where one shoreline is a shelter from this chilly wind. Along the route, I see some spring wildflowers — yellow violets, wood anemones and starflowers — that are looking normal despite the weather. Lady and interrupted ferns are unrolling their new growth for this coming season.

4 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Larry Weber

May 30—As we exit May, we can look out on a green foliated forest. The trees that began the month bare are now nearly complete in wearing their leafy attire. It began with the small shrubs of elderberry and honeysuckle, and the green moved up the trees. Some of the last ones to be fully foliated are large trees of the woods: oak and basswood. It is interesting to note that quaking aspen is one of the first trees to grow new leaves, but its cousin, big-tooth aspen, is one of the last.