May 2nd
The 122nd Day of the Year
By Goddess fay, by Goddess fay!
It is the month, the jolly month,
It is the jolly month of May.
Francis Thompson
Sunrise/set: 5:34/7:30
Day’s Length: 13 hours 56 minutes
Average High/Low: 68/47
Average Temperature: 57
Record High: 87 – 1901
Record Low: 31 – 1961
Weather
High temperatures are in the 80s ten percent of all May 2nds, the 70s forty-five percent. Some years, a brief “Lilac Winter” strikes at this time of the month, and cooler 60s come 20 percent of the time, 50s twenty-five percent. Chances of rain are 30 percent; the sky is mostly clear better than two-thirds of all the years. Although a cool front is due today, frost this morning is rare.
Natural Calendar
Under the closing canopy, phlox and ragwort are purple and gold. May apples are flowering. Wild ginger, meadow rue, bellwort, bluets, Jack-in-the pulpit, nodding trillium, larkspur and thyme-leafed speedwell are still blossoming. Wood betony flowers along the path above the stepping stones in the North Glen. White spring cress blooms along South Glen paths. Thyme and horseradish open in the garden. Lily-of-the-valley and star of Bethlehem push out from their buds. Red horse chestnut trees and buckeye trees and Osage orange come in. Sticky catchweed replaces chickweed. Korean lilacs fill in for the fading standard varieties. Oak and elm leaves are at least half size. Some maples are fully leafed, others just starting, some dropping seeds. The high tree line is completely alive all across the county, either with new glowing foliage or with orange buds or golden flowers.
The Stars
Arcturus still hangs a little to the east of the center of the sky at 10:00 p.m., but as that star shifts west, it pulls the chances of a freeze with it. When Arcturus is well into the west at bedtime, frost is usually gone until the autumn. Before dawn, Cygnus, the Northern Cross, is overhead in the Milky Way. Below Cygnus, Delphinus, the Dolphin, swims toward Aquila, the Eagle. In the far west, Hercules follows the Corona Borealis into the horizon. The Great Square fills the east while the Pleiades and Taurus appear on the edge of the tree line.
Daybook
1982: South Glen still has swamp buttercups, toothwort, toad trillium, trillium grandiflorum, wild phlox. Wild geranium is budding. In town, the smallest daffodils are still in bloom, all the rest are gone.
1983: First wood sorrel in bloom at Wilberforce. Early meadow rue and blue cohosh at South Glen. Lily-of-the-valley ready.
1985: Chicory is a foot tall in places.
1987: High oaks flowering and leafing now, rhubarb and horseradish in bloom. Very first honeysuckles open, one Osage branch is starting to leaf.
1988: Major shift in the color of the land, dandelions going to seed everywhere. Chubs are swarming in the clear water just below the bridge on Grinnell. First mayfly seen today. All but a few forsythia flowers have fallen.
1992: At Caesar Creek: Dogwoods and redbuds still full bloom. At least a dozen carp seen swimming back and forth, two caught. Catfish not at their holes yet. In town, cherry and apple done. Lilacs continuing to flower. Small Thalia narcissus and large daffodils in the east garden hold. Star of Bethlehem are open. Hosta leaves eight to ten inches, clematis and azalea with buds. Garlic mustard full bloom, rockets, daisies, pyrethrum budding, ranunculus full bloom since the end of April, forget-me-nots are in late full bloom.
1993: Diana Matthews calls: Craig saw a hummingbird today. Checking my notes, I see May 3 is the average date for their arrival.
1998: This morning, early robin chorus heard at 4:15, but I have not found the earliest point yet. Some of the lilacs are rusting now. The first iris (white) seen in Xenia this morning. The redbud trees are leafing more and more, their purple blossoms dropping to the street. In the pond, the ninth water lily leaf has come to the top. The pickerel plant is eight inches high. The watercress planted last week has adapted well, starting to bud, the purple loosestrife continues to spread. The azaleas are in full blossom, and the rhododendrons are just starting to show color.
Now driving the countryside, I can see the full retreat of the dandelions, and when I walk through the wet grass, my boots get covered with seeds. In the pond, the toad tadpoles have eaten almost all the algae which overwintered. They have grown some, developed more speckles, but their bodies do not seem to have changed dramatically since last weekend. Their habits are different, though. Instead of clustering at the west end of the pool, they have chosen the east end, richer in algae. And they seem more aware of my presence, are a little harder to capture for inspection. Even though the tadpoles never interact, they appear to have become more aware of what the others around them are doing; instead of all going their own way, they respond as one to shifts in the cloud cover or to noise.
1999: Lungwort still has blue flowers. Bleeding heart full. The last tulip, red and huge. Tadpoles still tiny, just a few days old. Star of Bethlehem appeared a day or two ago. White hyacinth by the cherry tree garden. Hosta foliage has become decorative in the east garden. By the purple coneflowers, only two foxglove and two monarda seem to have survived the winter. Wild geranium open, and full bloom of the dead nettle in the east garden. Astilbe foliage rising there, adding to the display. In the high canopy, locust and Osage barely starting. Along the south hedge, rose of Sharon just starting to leaf. In the pond, frogs still calling day and night.
2000: Cardinal at 4:43 a.m. this morning. Several sizable patches of blue-purple iris seen today, one in Xenia, the others in Yellow Springs. The first poppies were open across from the playground. In the yard, the honeysuckle has white buds; along the bike path a lot of the plants are open, and cressleaf groundsel has started to bloom beside the full bloom of the winter cress. Wild lettuce almost the size of May skunk cabbage. More sweet rockets coming in. Tadpoles in the pond still small and black; no spots, but they are becoming a little wilder.
2002: South Carolina: hard cold wind and temperatures only in the 50s today. No catfish found.
2003: First cardinal heard at 4:55 a.m., the morning cloudy and about 60 degrees. Blue jay at 5:07, just a minute or so after the doves. Lilacs all rusting. Susi’s bridal wreath spirea and our snowball viburnum are open all the way. All redbud and crab apple and tulip color is gone, petals disappearing. Blue and violet wood hyacinths coming in. Sweet rockets just beginning at South Glen, silver olives in full bloom there, water cress full in the stream along Grinnell Road. Sycamores and white mulberry trees are filling in with leaves now. Wild cherry budding.
From southern Minnesota, John writes: “So it’s finally getting around to being spring. The lilacs are about two days away from blooming. I think my irises should be out tomorrow. Grass is finally green. First mowing was a few days ago around here.”
2004: The red flowers of the new crabapple tree all fell at once today in the cold and rain of Lilac Winter. Apples and redbuds throughout town are rapidly losing flowers and are leafing out.
2006: Most of the red flowers of the new crabapple tree fell yesterday; it only has its leaves today. Most apple petals gone in the park. The ash and maples there are almost completely leafed out now, and the American beech has finally begun to push out its leaves from its sharp, long buds. The linden and oaks are at least half size, and the small-flowered mock orange is in full bloom.
2007: Wild strawberry flower noticed in the apple-tree garden. Red-bellied woodpecker calls have ceased recently. Most dandelions have gone to seed.
2008: Ferns, the sprouting dahlias, monarda and a few more coleus transplanted. Tadpoles found in a shallow pool at the Fairborn quarry. They were small and tame, and we caught a few to bring back to the pond. At the quarry, some plum trees are in full bloom, scrub cottonwoods with half-size leaves, squirrel-ear-size leaves on the small sycamores. The habitat is so plain: sweet clover, dock, dandelion foliage; cottonwoods, red cedars, stunted honeysuckles (many in bloom).
At home, the pink quince came in today or yesterday. I missed its first flowers, saw it suddenly all open. Snowball viburnums are in all over town, ours just starting to blossom. Ash leaves well formed, keeping their flower remnants. Black walnut flower clusters, the dark clumps, have fallen from Nate’s tree. Other black walnuts are just starting to leaf. Gold finches continue to feed heavily, grackles, cowbirds and cardinals at the back feeder. Late tulips still hold, the reds, purples and pinks; bluebells and lungwort still bloom. A small frog or toad jumps into the pond whenever I approach.
Jeffery Goss writes from Springfield, Missouri: “On April 1, the fields were purple with purple deadnettle, and the first butterfly of the season was sighted. Apricot bloomed April 5, redbud April 7, box elder (catkins) April 8, dogwood April 11, sassafras April 15, lilac April 18. In the insect department: first Microlepidopteran approximately April 17, first gallnipper April 22, first mosquito April 24.”
2009: I built a fire this morning, the first day of Lilac Winter, but the weather warmed in the afternoon. The toad was calling again, and we went to the Brukner Center in Troy, about 40 miles north of Yellow Springs. Bluebells were very late, as they are at home. Marsh marigolds/cowslips were in full bloom, as were the large-flowered trilliums, wild geraniums, bellwort, anemones, aging miterwort, spring beauties and wild phlox. Many Jack-in-the-pulpits seen, most of them completely developed. Campion-like white flower, with five divided petals, opposite, and nearly clasping leaves. Catalpa trees are starting to leaf. In our yard, the late daffodils have finally disappeared, the white and the small multi-flowered ones. Some tulips still hold. Thyme-leafed speedwell has shown up in the lawn.
2011: An afternoon’s drive into northern Kentucky this past weekend showed me the Yellow Springs of the next few weeks. In Cincinnati, locusts and honeysuckles were all in bloom. Near Lexington, the high canopy was definitely thickening with luminous leaves, mounds of pale green light emerging from less advanced woodlots. West along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the lush and creamy florescence of wild cherry trees, locusts and honeysuckles dominated the roadsides. Thistles were tall and budded, and off the freeway in small towns, yellow iris, violet iris and red roses marked the dooryards. Dogwoods, hawthorns and tulip trees were losing their petals. When I stopped, I found blue-tailed dragonflies hunting in the river. Deadnettle and chickweed were yellowing, all gone to seed. Poison ivy was starting to cover the forest floor. Black swallowtail butterflies and sulphurs had joined the blues, the red admirals and the white cabbage butterflies.
2012: At home, the first chives opened and two of our iris, one gold, one purple, bloomed overnight, and the late wisteria has started to flower. Rhododendrons opening in front of Don’s house. Grackles seem quieter these days, still come to the feeders, but are less talkative. The red-bellied woodpecker still calls. Another sparrow fledgling being fed in the butterfly bush. First hummingbird seen, then the hummingbird feeder put out in the circle garden. The cottonwood tree near the park has clusters of buds, but is not blooming yet. A red admiral seen late afternoon. High in the 80s today: no Lilac Winter this year!
2013: Xenia Avenue is rich in dogwoods and redbuds and crab apples today. Driving past Janet’s house, I noticed her front yard covered with golden ragwort, plants tall and in full bloom. Along the freeway, silver olives are all open. Later, I went to the alley to check on Mrs. Timberlake’s geraniums, but her garden had been replaced by a gravel driveway. I have watched her spring flowers so many years, but when the land was paved over last year, I didn’t pay attention to the loss. At home, the pink quince bloomed overnight, and the viburnum is opening. The peak of the dandelions has just passed, today maybe the cusp, tomorrow the slide to seeding. The sugar maple along Dayton Street is blossoming and forming small seeds, so many other maples shedding flower husks. Several front-yard gardens toward downtown have full-blooming forget-me-nots.
2014: Greg’s Lily-of-the-valley has buds, the spirea on High Street has buds, and iris on Limestone and in the yard are also budded. Apples at the park are in full bloom still, all the pears leafed. Peggy’s geraniums are coming in, and mine are budded. Dandelions are still full, but the seeding has just begun. In the alley, the white, six-petaled hyacinths are in full bloom. Annie’s decorative grasses, cut back in early spring, are growing now, reach about a foot high. Audrey and Grant Hackett wrote this evening: “My husband and I put our hummingbird feeder up yesterday (May 1) and today (May 2) witnessed one…two…three visits by a male ruby-throated hummingbird! So thrilling to have the hummers back. We live on Pleasant and Park on the north side of Yellow Springs.”
2015: Morning run, sun rising out of gold and gray-blue at the east end of Union Street, into the chorus of cardinals and robins (one pair exploding, tussling in a lawn along Stafford Street) last petals of forsythia and pears, crows at 5:20, red-bellied woodpecker at 5:40. As I planted zinnias and tithonias in the north garden, two white star of Bethlehem buds opened wide. Pie cherry flowers more than half fallen at Don’s. The first red admiral butterfly flirted with bamboo near the south wall. Peter Hayes reported the first hummingbird at his feeder today.
2016: Yesterday morning, Ed Oxley dropped to show me a photo of a Red-Breasted Grosbeak that had visited his property a few days ago. Now this morning, Jonatha writes to report a Grosbeak in her yard. Later in the morning, Peter wrote: “Two Great Egrets across from our house right now.” Then Liz sent a note: “A pair of grosbeaks hung out in the yard all afternoon and were so calm…the male let me get very close (10-20 ft.) to take a picture even. He practically posed! When I told my story after meditation this morning, my friend Chris said that he had THREE male grosbeaks in his yard yesterday! A flock taking a little migratory break? Have you ever seen them here?”
2018: From Portland, Oregon, Jeni writes: “You wouldn’t believe all the cherry blossoms and how many places have ‘pink snow’ right now. On the way to work yesterday, a huge pickup truck passed me by and he had lots of pink petals stuck to the front of his truck! It had rained and so they adhered like you’d see on a parade float! Very fun!!”
This afternoon, Jill’s lilac produced its first flowers. Along Dayton Street, all the service berry petals are gone, and the decorative pears are leafing. At 8:14 tonight, Rick Donahoe wrote, “Hey Bill, tree toads trilling in our pond tonight. What else is there?” I talked to Robert a little later. He had just gotten back from the Glen, said the toads were singing like crazy.
2019: Crab apple and redbut petalfall surges now, petals all over the sidewalks and roadsides. Standing in the back yard tonight, I listened to the rhythmic calls of the toads far to the west.
2020: A second and then a third red admiral seen this afternoon, and I glimpsed an orange Polygonia. Groundsel and winter cress gild the fields west of Ellis, an the wind strips the seeds from the spent dandelions. In the east garden of my house, a few buttercups are opening.
The first chirps of the waking day birds mark the “point vierge” [the virgin point] of the dawn under a sky as yet without real light, a moment of awe and inexpressible innocence, when the Father in perfect silence opens their eyes.