early sprouting spots?

[arghman]

this crazed amateur botanist is trying to find good plant spots for early April. The chives in my garden are sprouting but that's about it so far.

any one know of some early sprout spots on publicly accessible land in S. NH or northern / central MA? Especially nice would be a south-ish-facing slope w/ a beech or oak forest. (PM me if you think the location is sensitive enough not to post publicly here.)

 

[audrey]

I don't know of any particular spots. Low lying boggy areas here in Eastern MA have seen skunk cabbage sprouting for several weeks now.
It does seem random: last year in early April I found blooming arbutus along Lucy Brook just past Diana's Baths.

Have you ever checked out the Heald Tract in Wilton? Among other treasures, waterlilies of every color bloom in the summer in Heald Pond.

Another spot that may show early action is the section of the Tully Trail that follows the power lines near Long Pond. It's also a fabulous spot for insects. We once encountered a group from UMass catching (and releasing) dragonflies, and they gave us a short lesson in butterflies.

 

[bill bowden]

Trout lillies and yellow violets

appear pretty early on the Manning trail on Mount Cardigan. while the Manning is very heavily travelled, it rises up the south side of a westerly trending ridge and is has extensive broadleaf forest down low with good exposure to sunlight in the spring. In mor etypical springs, the lillies are often in bloom during the last week of april, I would suspect earlier this year.

I will be at Beaver Brook in Hollis this P.M. just to get a little fresh air; see whether anything is showing activity. Judging from the state of my sinuses some plants are awakening quite quickly.

 

[Quietman]

I did my noon trail run on Burn's Hill in Milford, NH and there is no flora to speak of. The woods are bone dry, and this may delay some of the sprouting. These trails are normally very swampy in spring and right now they are dry and dusty.

 

[erd]

I live to the S of you in the Catskills (where, in theory, the flora should be ahead of your zone). I walked the Biscuit Brook trail today, up Big Indian and then over to Fir. This is usually good for a fine display of flora, in season. However, nothing is yet stirring. The only green presently visible are the few ferns that maintained their color over winter, and the ubiquitous Lycopodium spp. Hobblebush is budding up nicely, but not much is visible on the trees. It is still early (despite the mild weather) and the arid winter will probably retard bloom. Snow has almost totally disappeared, except for a few old drifted areas on one ridge.

 

[jrichard]

nothing

Nothing this weekend from southern NH (Mont Vernon) or the Ossipees. And despite bushwacking, not even any ticks, not on me, the kids, and not even on the dog.

There's still ice in places though, and the ground in our garden is still frozen a couple inches down.