The yo-yoing thermometer has many panhandle Florida residents in a state of seasonal confusion.
Some want to know if we will have another visit from the dreaded Polar Vortex, the latest term for a dipping jet stream which will deliver colder temperatures. Others just want to know when warmer weather will be here to stay.
The answer may be in the woods, landscapes and fields of north Florida. Two of the early harbingers of spring are beginning their bloom cycle, potential for additional cold weather notwithstanding.
Redbuds and wild plums, sometimes known as hog plums or Chickasaw plums, are responding to the lengthening hours of sunlight and the periodic warm days typical of the transition to spring weather.
Wild plums burst onto the scene in forest settings, but they make an excellent landscape plant, too. The native species is prepared to handle the ups and downs of the region’s weather and still produce white blooms in the early spring.
Each characteristically employs the same tactic to protect its early flowers. While either will grow in full sun, they are more commonly seen as sub-canopy trees blooming under the shelter of taller species.
Redbuds are moderately fast growers when young with the potential to reach 30 feet. Most live approximately 20 years, but a few can live about 10 years longer if a variety of factors work in the favor of this tree.
Redbuds will grow in a variety of soil types, including sandy or alkaline, and will populate many locations in the north end of Florida. They favor moist sites and are easy to locate around rivers, swamps and in damp flood plains.
The pink to purple flowers emerge before the leaves emerge. The growth pattern is irregular when the tree is young, but older trees have an elegant vase shape with a flat top.
Small flat seed pods appear later in the year. They are distributed primarily by the wind to new sprouting locations.
Like the redbud, wild plums bloom before leaves develop. The mass of suddenly opening white blooms is conspicuous in the muted earth tones of brown and gray.
The fruit will appear later in the spring and mature in summer. The plums can be sweet to quite tart, and have been commonly used as the basis for many home jelly recipes.
Additionally, they are an important source of food for wildlife. Deer, raccoon, opossum and many other herbivores and omnivores utilize wild plums during summer and autumn.
Unfortunately, wild plums serve as a host to plum curculio. This insect is known to attack a variety of stone fruit cultivars in north and central Florida.
Additionally, this native plum may harbor Xylella Fastidiosa, a bacterial pathogen of significant importance to commercial and home plum and peach orchards. Insects move the disease from plant to plant, and the only feasible countermeasure is to remove all wild plums in proximity of cultivated hybrids.
Disease issues aside, both the wild plum and redbud have been used as a low-cost alternative in many regional landscapes. They have the additional quality of being one of the more wildfire safe plants.
While they cannot give the exact date when winter’s freezing temperatures will end, their blooms are a good indicator that spring is not far into the future.
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