The spring equinox occurs at 11:49 p.m. today. We’ll be greeting the fertile season in self-isolation for our own protection, while some of our evergreen neighbors will continue congregating in crowds for theirs. Our spruce trees, in particular, have so many seed cones this year that their tops look like they were attacked by a manic decorator. The image below of one of our tall (about 70-foot) Black Spruces was taken Tuesday, March 17:
The seed cones usually occur in the top third of spruces, while their pollen buds usually appear in the lower third, which is good social distancing – it reduces the chances of self-pollination that might weaken progeny.
Spruces produce cones in a two-year cycle, which means that these almost mature cones are the result of buds formed in 2019. It was wetter and warmer than average here then, with a spring that was the wettest in Maine since 1973. That may be the cause of today’s cone congestion. (Brooklin, Maine)