tamarack

1.87" as of 7 this morning, nearly all coming 1-8 PM yesterday - largest precip event since the 2.17" Grinch deluge last Dec. 21-22. June went from half average to 0.2" AN for the date. Have not seen a flash of lightning at home, or more than a few distant rumbles there, since last August.

Likewise about the stakes, though most of the plants remain too short to really need the support. Two weeks away from the garden so lots of work needed there.

Hit the fog wall immediately as I began to go down the SE side of Mile Hill this morning - there was none at home though hilltops were a bit obscured, none while climbing Mile Hill or on its little plateau, and by the time I'd reached Belgrade Village there was very little. It was just that one foggy mile or so. Looks like i may need to get into the garden and tie off some plants after this rain................ Would not mind about an inch, as I'm 1.5" BN for the month to date, and it's been dry since last Thursday. 2" - no thanks. (And we got out of SNJ just in time - serious flooding there from overnight downpours, including part of our usual I-295 route.)

The MNAP guidebook control methods for common buckthorn are almost the same - only difference is that Garlon is not mentioned for foliar application, though it's there for cut-stump.

Looks like glossy buckthorn - its equally invasive exotic cousin has 4-petal flowers and yours has 5. Repeated pre-seed cutting can work, if you get it all and do it for at least 3 years. (Guidebook from Maine Natural Areas Program: "...diligence is required.") If herbicides are an option, either glyphosate (Roundup - I use its off-patent knockoff "Eliminator", which I've bought at Wal-Mart) or Triclopyr (Garlon.) Foliar application of either works well, as does cut-stump application except in spring when sap is moving upward. The ester formulation of Garlon, in bark oil, can also be applied to the base of the bark in any season. (Source: Same MNAP guidebook)

I've managed to kill the usually tough lupines in 2 places, my current locale and at our 1st house in Fort Kent. IIRC, the culprit here was plow-scalping (by the town) of the late-Feb slopfest in 2010, one more reason to hate that "winter." In Fort Kent, we planted lupines in the side yard shortly after moving in during May 1977 and got nice blossoms 3 years, just a few in 78 but lots the next 2. Then came Feb 1981, in which CAR tied its high temp for the month twice and exceeded it 7 times. The lupines failed to make an appearance that spring, so I guess the thaw went deep enough so that the subsequent sub-zero mornings on bare ground did them in. Edit: Spent the last week with family in SNJ - EF-0 just 8 miles to our NNW (Mullica Hill), closest I've been to a confirmed tor. We had little wind and not even a rumble. Looked for EAB and Gypsy moth evidence on the drive down (too much RA to see much on yesterday's return trip.) Patches of dead ash all thru CT/NY/NNJ. Also dead/sick oak, mostly S.MA and N.CT, but zero sign of current Gypsy moth feeding and even with this year's somewhat delayed phenology the defoliation should've been visible if significant. (Route thru MA/CT was 495/290/Pike/84. Nothing on I-684 nor Saw Mill River Pkwy in NY nor any of the NJ highways we traveled. either.)

Had a regular toad-strangler in Mahwah/Suffern (NNJ/SNY) around 11 AM yesterday while looking for Good Sam hospital in the latter town. High gear wipers couldn't compete, visibility 100 yards at times.

Wow - short but intense. Wife and I were watching 6 of our 7 grandkids about 8 miles SSE from there while dad/mom were on an anniversary date (with the still-nursing 7th.) Tor-warn came over cell phones and we pondered a to-cellar move while I went out for a look (3x.) Little rain, no wind, no thunder, so we stayed put.

Only a B- for me despite an A+ November and "A" grade snow in January, 2nd most SDDs (07-08 is inviolate, but 18-19 is closer to that year than to #3) and long, long pack. The "retention factor", SDDs divided by snowfall, was more than 10% higher than any previous winter here (31.5 vs. 28.0 in 13-14.) November got A+ for both temp (easily coldest, and crushed the daily high/mean marks) and snowfall, totaling 4" more than Dec and Mar combined and just 1.1" behind Feb. However, I couldn't award a seasonal A to a winter with a Dec 2018 - less than 40% avg snowfall, no storms over 3.5", and a monster Grinch rain event a few days before Christmas. Also, as noted above, nearly every snow event included RA/IP, and the only month with more than one mix-free storms was . . . April. Also, the winter lacked extreme cold and had no extended periods of far BN temps, and while I'm no big fan of super-frigid wx (no longer challenge it for ice fishing, as an example), runs like the 2-weeks Dec-Jan 17-18 add impact to any winter.

I think this can work for advection fog as well, at least over a small area. If there's a really moist E-SE flow during the cool seasons, I can expect to encounter fog on the SE-facing part of Mile Hill in Rome (Maine - I'm pretty ignorant on Italian wx.)

On vacation June 11-18, so delayed in responding. My earliest date for peak depth is Jan. 20, 2010 and latest in March 31, 2001. That's probably also the latest for Farmington, as that month was their snowiest for any month not starting with "F", and ended with 18" (19 at my place) on 30-31. However, even without looking I'm confident their earliest season peak came in 2003-04, when the Dec. 6-7 blizzard was measured at 40", a total I find suspicious because nearby sites came in near 2 feet. I got to our church (1.5 miles SE from the co-op site and about 100' higher) within 2 hours of the storm's end and the snow there looked about like to 24" I'd measured. 30" I could swallow; 40" sounds like a drift (and the wind made lots.) All that said, the co-op reported 40" depth on the 7th and never got near 30 after the Dec. 11 rain pounded down the pack. I can tolerate mosquito bites, and even after the initial pain of a horse/deer fly, but black fly bites I think I have a special reaction to. They itch like crazy. To the point I'd consider severing the limb than go on. Mosquitos and black flies can be impeded by repellents, though in June 1996 the latter were so awful that even Ben's 100 barely worked for one hour. The only ways to avoid deerflies are to stay inside or remain under water (though I've heard that flaming kerosene works.) In addition, deerflies can travel faster that I can run, faster even that I could run at age 18. Skeeters use a delicate "straw" to take their meal, black flies scratch a little hole and lick the flow, but it feels like deerflies carve off a steak and fly a way with it. The nearest I ever came to being chased out of the woods was during a hot July day in NW-most Maine - had hundreds of flies buzzing around, most being similar-size harmless critters I call sweat-lickers, but impossible to distinguish from the knife-carrying deerflies until it was too late.

Since Autumn Blaze is a hybrid between red and silver maples, its seeds would probably share characteristics of each. Red maple seeds are among the lightest of any maple while those of silver are among the heaviest, 10-15 times as heavy as red maple. As you've noted, red maple seeds have reddish wings. Silver maple wings tend toward lime green. Maybe if you mixed paint of similar colors, it would be some shade of brownish? Sugar maple is 3-4 times heaver than red, 1/3-1/4 the weight of silver. If there are any Norway maples around, they produce big seed crops of relatively large seeds which drop about the same time as those of red maple.

I'd call it midsummer, and the maples tend to drop all their seeds over a relatively short period. White ash is different - seeds mature mid-late summer but many hang on into winter. Looks to be a huge crop for them this year, maybe like 1992 when the north side gales around the December bomb covered our entire yard with ash seeds (and not a single snowflake), at least 20 per sq.ft., and next spring it was like every one germinated.

That's more than twice my total May 1 forward, and 2019 is at about 20.45". (Depending on what fell after 7 AM this morning.)

Probably 3-4 weeks after the red maple onslaught. And big seed years tend to be high-viability percentage as well.

Some red maples look half leafed-out due to all the branch space occupied by seeds, which should start flying here soon. (And some trees, brown ash in particular, still look half-leaved because - late.) Looks like lots of trees are producing big seed crops - the pine across from the house, numerous female white ash, and every apple tree in the area (assuming pollination gets it done.)

Re-calculated largest storm - actually 14.92" Median is 13.8". Avg. date of largest is Feb. 10, median 4 days later. Biggest by month NOV: once, in 11-12. DEC: 1.5 (16-17 had 21.0" storms in both D and F.) JAN: 6 FEB: 4.5 MAR: 6 APR: 2 Average peak pack: 30.1", Median 28" Average last day of continuous 1"+: April 6, Median 4/8.

Latest I've seen decent cover (more than 1") disappear here was 12/17/2000, when 2.8" RA at 40s-50s took out 5" snow. In Gardiner the massive mid-January thaw in 1995 removed the last of the 12" that had fallen on the 2nd, leading to a week-plus of bare ground. Not at all common.

Measuring snow - storm totals or pack - will always somewhat arbitrary due to the nature of the material. The difference at my stake between total and consecutive days with 1"+ is but 5", 122" vs 117", and in 10 of 21 winters the difference has ranged zero to 2 days. And it's not always related to total snowfall - 2002-03 with its 67.8" but lots of sustained cold had 1"+ for 4 days longer than 2007-08 with 142.3" snowfall. Unless there's major late-winter thaws like 2010 and 2012, the #1 key to long-duration cover is November snow followed by cold. Only in 3 of 21 winters, 02-03, 14-15 and last winter, has cover been maintained from November into the heart of winter. Other years with long-duration cover (07-08, 13-14) benefitted from snows in the first few days of December.

Using your event steps (and adding 8"-ers), here's 21 winters' worth. Amount Freq.% Avg 18-19 Max; winter 6" 95% 4.6 4 9; 07-08 8" 95% 3.1 2 6, 07-08 & 13-14 10" 76% 1.9 2 5; 13-14 12" 67% 1.3 0 4; 00-01 15" 43% 0.8 0 3; 00-01 & 16-17 18" 38% 0.4 0 2; 16-17 20" 24% 0.3 0 2; 16-17 Average for winter's largest: 14.97" Edit: Correction of previous post - only 6 winters reached 40", with 5 coming in 07-08 on.

Closest I've come to having measurable in June was 6/9/1980, when flurries turned our grass to lime-green. If we'd been at 970' in the back settlement (moved there 9/81) instead of in town at 530', we'd probably have had an inch or so, based on what co-workers had to contend with west of Allagash. This past winter had continuous 1"= cover from Nov. 10 thru April 20, total of 162 days. Had one day with an inch in October for 163 total, both numbers tops here by about 2 weeks. Number 2 for SDDs with 3,443, over 600 above #3 but well back of the 3,835 in 07-08. Top depth was 41" on 3/10, 7th winter reaching 40" and 6th in the past 12 years (after having only 00-01 reach the mark in my first 9 winters here.)

The close-up pic helps, though I'm not a good enough entomologist to ID the critter. Since it appears hairless, like an inch worm, maybe winter moth? That's an invasive from across the pond that's been chewing up trees in southern Maine. However, the season's massive green salad is a smorgasbord for all kinds of insects, some native and some from away.

Looks "dogwood-ey" thanks to those veins curving toward the leaf tip, a characteristics of the genus. Almost the only tree group with leaf veining like that. Bark isn't like that of the native flowering dogwood, which usually doesn't flower until it's a bit bigger than yours. It's also a touchy tree to raise and transplant. Most nurseries would be more likely to have Kousa dogwood, an Asian species that flowers (eventually.) All that said, I can't say exactly what kind of tree, other than it almost certainly isn't found in the Maine woods. Edit: Desktop, so can't see the critter on Kev's oak.

Quick and dirty way to estimate whether that tree will reach the pen. One needs a straight stick about 30" long. Standing with back to pen, hold the stick horizontally at arm's length with the near end against the nose, as close to the eye as is safe. Without moving the hand closer, rotate the stick to vertical, align where it leaves the hand with the base of the tree. If the treetop extends above the top of the stick, the pen is within reach. Same can be done with other possible "targets." (Similar right triangles) Apple trees are peaking with blossoms this year. It's a great year for the blossoms. Some years I don't have many blossoms and some years I do. So lots of apples for the deer. Last summer was very dry as I missed almost every thunderstorm. Wonder if they were stressed and that helped this season? Don't trees/flowers produce more fruit after a stressful time. Will have to Google that... My Haralred, the most proctive of our 3 by far, is absolutely covered with blossoms. The Ultramac and Empire look to have loads as well though they're just beginning to open. (Can't recall having them all blossom so late before.) Last year we had considerable blossoms on all 3, though not nearly as prolific as now, and there appeared to be good fruit set. Unfortunatley, all but about 2 dozen on the Haralred and a couple each on the others suffered premature drop during the superhumid period in July - maybe the wx favored some fungal disease as the cause, but I don't really know.

My thoughts: Since it's a double tree, things get complicated. Perhaps the cut should be made as close to the ground as feasible, despite all the extra cutting needed. Those twin stems kind of keep either one from going to the right by itself. If there's room to tip the left stem toward the camera, I'd do that first, cutting about 2' above the old stump to keep the right stem from interfering. First thing I'd do is tie a stout rope to the tree, preferably around both stems (unless the left one can be dropped first) and as high as safely possible, with the other end to a solid anchor, like another sizable but living tree. If a come-along is available, I'd tie a loop in the rope such that, when the tag end was firmly lashed to the anchor and the line from tree to tree was taut, the loop would be almost out to full come-along extension. That way the winch can be used without releasing from the anchor. --Here's how I was taught to safely dump a tree against its lean: Make a normal front notch; I'd recommend open face (90° angle between top and bottom of notch) to help control the fall all the way to the ground. Then make a plunge cut 1-2" behind the notch, making sure there's at least an inch (or 2 with a dead tree) of hinge wood remaining. Then continue the plunge cut toward the back of the tree, stopping 2-3" from going all the way. Then do another plunge cut from the back side 3-4" below where the 1st one would've come out, making sure that 2nd cut covers the "footprint" of the wood left at the back of the tree by stopping plunge cut #1. With the tree held by the hinge and the wood in back, drive a wedge into the 2nd plunge cut (on a big tree I've needed 2, struck alternately, and maybe sprayed with WD-40 first.) The wedging will split the wood between 1st and 2nd plunge cuts and tip the tree in the desired direction. Sounds complicated, but with the rope for safety and the tree never resting on less than 2 spots until it falls, things should go okay. ("Should" requires some "splaining", as Ricky would tell Lucy. I did this procedure on a large ash - 16" by 80' - and unfortunately there was hidden rot that compromised about half the hinge, all one side. The hinge failed and allowed the tree to fall not toward its lean, but sideways away from the rot, where it solidly lodged in another ash. If you see interior rot when you make the front notch, leave a wider hinge, especially behind the rotten part.)