Leonard Weber

March 24, 2025

Spring is a time to look for the first flowers, including flowers that appear on trees before the leaves grow. 

I start visiting the early flowering trees in Eliza Howell Park in Match, checking frequently, eager to see  progress. This year, being relatively cold, the progress seems to be slower. But it is started.

Cornelian Cherry Dogwood is sometimes the first to reach full bloom. The flower buds are still very small now, just starting to open. Soon, yellow flowers will be open all over the smaller branches of the  leafless tree.

On most of my walks these days, I also stop at Red Maple trees.

Red Maple usually has female and male flowers on separate trees, with only the female trees producing seeds, of course.

Eastern Cottonwood also flowers before leaves appear, and it is another species in which the male and female flowers grow on separate trees.

The flower buds have started   growing and will continue to develop significantly in the next few weeks.

At this April point, the “cotton,” attached to the seeds, is becoming evident.

The fourth of the flowering trees that I have started checking recently is the Eastern Redbud.

The Redbud flowers are just starting to develop now, but they too will be in full bloom before any leaves appear.

When there are quite a large number of cold days late in the second half of March, as seems to be the case this year in Detroit, one becomes eager for clear signs of spring. That eagerness leads me to these four tree species repeatedly. And, fortunately, they always provide reassurance.