Taken December 24, 2011
What a perplexing tree! I discovered the new leaves on the
tree and I got to work examining this tree and the two trees closest to it. I
could not find another blooming tree on the property. The two trees next to it
are dormant. The tree to the south still has dead leaves on it. The tree to the
north has dropped all the dead leaves. I
was perplexed about the out of season bloom so I did a search for reputable
articles about out of season blooming and discovered that the most likely culprit
is the drought this summer. I did have a few trees go dormant during the
drought, although this particular tree did not. We had a rather wet mid to late
fall so the tree was “tricked” into an out of season bloom. I am going to keep
an eye on this tree for the next few seasons and see exactly what will happen.
I have heard some predictions by family members about what might happen to it
some have said it is going to die; some have said it will always bloom out of
season now. My prediction in its internal clock will reset itself at some point
in the near future and it will have a lovely spring bloom and be just fine.
New Year's Eve had such high winds that we have lost most of all the green leaves on the tree. There are only a few handfuls of leaves left on the tree but there are no signs of color changes on any of the leaves. The Farmer's Almanac states that we will have a mild winter, so.... we will see what happens to the remaining green leaves.
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