I noticed something this spring. We've had a slow spring, with no prolonged warm spells (usually we get a couple) to really push the leaves out, so everything seems to be progressing slowly.
However, I've noticed something peculiar. I've always thought of Acer saccharum as being somewhat later to leaf out in general - but among the trees in my neighborhood, they range from almost fully in leaf (full canopy but not quite full sized leaves) to buds just starting to unfurl. It seems to be related either to cultivar or provenance more than anything - as groups of trees in planted areas seem to be mostly on the same schedule. The ones I believe to be 'Green Mountain' are mostly in leaf, the ones I believe are 'Legacy' have not progressed as much, and some (cultivar unknown) barely budding. The ones I believe are seedgrown are, as you'd expect, all over the map.
Initially I thought, maybe the ones in decline are delayed - but the handful of trees (mostly trees on the street or near parking lots or other pavement) that I remember exhibiting signs of decline (early fall color, dying branches at top of canopy) are also all over the map, anywhere from fully leafed out to still nearly bare.
Is this typical for sugar maple, and something I just never noticed before? Or is it a sign of something else? I guess since fall color among sugar maples ranges from early to late from tree to tree and cultivar to cultivar, this would make sense, I guess I just never noticed THAT big a discrepancy before.
My own little Sugar Maple sapling is about midway through the leafout process (it is a seedling tree, not a cultivar).
bengz6westmd
arktrees
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hairmetal4everOriginal Author
hairmetal4everOriginal Author
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
davidrt28 (zone 7)
hairmetal4everOriginal Author
hairmetal4everOriginal Author
lou_spicewood_tx
ilovemytrees