February

If days become warm enough and nights stay cold, the maple sugaring season should be in full swing. Watch for acrobatic squirrels licking tasty sap that drips from the ends of broken branches.

Tall, white flowers of Ohio buckeye stand in sharp contrast to the new green leaves in many places along the parkways.

Apple trees and wild lilacs are now in bloom and mark old farmsteads long abandoned in the Rocky River valley.

Snow in June? No, just uncountable millions of seeds of the cottonwood tree, drifting about in the summer breeze.

Tulip trees are turning orange, black tupelo is turning crimson and sassafras is turning orange. Can autumn be far away?

Ohio buckeye nuts are ripe! Can you find them before the squirrels do? Look for the polished-looking "buck's eye" beneath the tough green husk.

A good crop of hickory nuts and other "mast" may take the squirrels away from your bird feeders starting this week. To your delight (or dismay) they will soon return!

The first blush of autumn colors are now found on red and sugar maples, tulip trees and ashes.

The peak of fall color arrives generally between the 10th and 20th of the month. Due to local variations in climate and moisture, different parts of Cleveland Metroparks may offer views of peak color at different times.

By months end, the appearance of flowers on witch hazel announces the final act of the plant world's play for the year.

Many oaks and beeches will hold dead leaves on their branches all winter. Spring growth sheds the golden brown mantle of old leaves, thus allowing the forest to gain two layers of nutrients each year. The rustle of leaves in the winter wind is a sharp contrast to the quiet of snowy meadows.

Certain witch hazels in sheltered locations continue to bloom.