Look Up! – Get Outside!

The Trees are in Bloom!

Long puffy flowers on a white ash tree — *White ash flowers*

Red cascading flowers on the end of a twig — *Red maple flowers*

When you think about trees, flowers aren’t usually the first thing that come to mind. But right now, ash, maple, and a plethora of other trees, are in full bloom. Their tiny flowers often go unnoticed, but if go outside and look up you will notice that many trees are covered with hundred or even thousands of white, yellow, green, or red flowers.

Honey bee visiting the lght green cascading flowers of a sugar maple tree — *Honey bee visiting sugar maple tree flowers*

Theses early spring flowers are very important food source to insects that feed on nectar and pollen. On the next warm day, check out the tree flowers near you, and if you are lucky you’ll see them being visited by a foraging bee. Of course there is a downside to tree pollen, spring allergies.

Clump of green fruits ash seeds) — *White ash fruits*

Red helicopter like seeds — *Red maple fruits*

These flowers will soon result in an abundance of seeds. Both maples and ashes produce samaras which are technically dried fruits. Often referred to as helicopters, the shape of these fruits enables them to catch the wind and be carried far away from the parent tree. Many will be eaten by squirrels and birds, but some will germinate and grow into new trees.

So get outside and look up! What trees are flowering in your neighborhood?