October Phenology

When Halloween crops have come to town, then the dark-eyed juncos will be returning to your bird feeders,
When you see streaks of scarlet in the oaks and shades of pink on the dogwood trees, then cut your gourds, winter squash and pumpkins for winter storage. Harvest your grapes, too.
When you see the fruits of the ginkgo tree turning pink, then look for next year’s skunk cabbage in the swamp and the knuckles of next year’s rhubarb in the garden.
When the burning bush is completely red, then snow becomes a possibility.
When beggartick seeds stick to your pants legs, then check your horse for horse-bot eggs.
When the winged seeds of Japanese knotweed fall, then look for great flocks of blackbirds to move across the land.
When leaves reach peak color, that’s the time to plant your winter wheat. That’s also the time that mating season begins for the white-tailed deer.
When ash leaves fall, then divide peonies, lilies, and iris.
When maple leaves are down, then plant crocus, daffodils, tulips, snowdrops, and aconites before November turns the weather much chillier.
When you see the pointers of the Big Dipper aligned north and south at 10:00 p.m., then hosta seedpods split open in rainy weather, revealing their black contents. That’s the time to dig your dahlias, gladiolus and cama bulbs for winter.
When the barn swallows leave your barn, begin the sugar beet harvest and look for frost within 14 days.
When the soft heads of cattails start to break apart, then complete autumn pruning of trees and shrubs.
When the first killing frost takes the peppers and tomatoes, then dig up the onions, remove the mum tops, cut flowers and herbs for drying.
When asparagus yellows in the garden, then transplant roses, pussy willows, and perennials.
When you see the second bloom of forsythia bushes, then plan on about 14 mild, dry days for outdoor work before winter.
After all the wheat and corn are harvested, then wrap new trees with burlap to help them ward off cold winds.

THE SEASONAL CALENDAR
The Week of the First Junco
This last week of early fall is the week the first slate-gray junco arrives for winter. Goldenrod is seeding now, pods of the eastern burning bush are open, hawthorn berries redden, wild grapes are purple, and the tree line that seemed so deep in summer just days ago is suddenly poised to break into its final color of the year.

When juncos arrive, streaks of scarlet appear on the oaks, shades of pink on the dogwoods. The ashes all show red or gold; the catalpas and the cottonwoods blanch. Shagbark hickories, tulip trees, sassafras, elms, locusts and sweet gums change to full yellow, merge with the swelling orange of the maples to create a variegated archway into middle fall.

When the first junco appears, the terns and meadowlarks, yellow-rumped warblers and purple martins migrate. Turkey vultures gather from the north. Hawks move south, resting on fences and high wires to look for prey. Titmice chirp, and sometimes cardinals sing. Robins give their short migration clucks.
As the canopy thins, hemlock, ragwort, yarrow, waterleaf, violets, wild ginger and sweet Cicely grow back.

Mums are at their best, and the slowest raspberries ripen. Sometimes crabapple trees, forsythia and lilacs come into bloom again. Pussy willows that have lost their foliage to leaf miners sometimes make new leaves. But the tall sedums begin to relinquish their petals, and autumn crocuses die back. Asters are winding down; August’s jumpseeds are jumping, touch-me-nots popping, thimble plants unraveling. The toothed leaves of beggarticks darken overnight. Buckeye fruits have fallen, and three-seeded mercury has lost its seeds.

Cabbage butterflies become more reckless in their search for nectar. Aphids disappear in the chilly nights. Cicadas die. Japanese beetles complete their season. Daddy longlegs disappear from the undergrowth, and spiders of all kinds move indoors. Damselflies are rare along the rivers now, and darners have left their suburban ponds.

The Week of the Final Monarchs
The last monarchs depart for Mexico as the high canopy thins and the burning bush turns scarlet. The ashes, redbuds and hickories shed quickly, and the land enters full maple-turn and middle fall. Many catalpas are down, beans left swinging in the wind. Ginkgo fruits, which will be on the ground by late November, are turning pink. Box elders, poplars, elms, red mulberries and sycamores are mottled.

Chimney swifts, wood thrushes, barn swallows and red-eyed vireos move out of the county this first week of middle fall. Flocks of blackbirds and robins migrate across the countryside. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers move through the woods. There are newborn grasshoppers in the field, but many of the adults are exhausted and dying. Woolly bear caterpillars suddenly multiply. Cobwebs are rare.

Half the goldenrod has rusted, and many of the varieties of asters deteriorate all at once. The brown seeds of the beggartick plants stick to your pants. Scattered watercress plants bloom one more time. New hepatica leaves are dark and strong along the rocky paths. Henbit that sprouted a month ago is two inches tall. The tips of spruce trees are putting on pale fresh growth. The low October sun brings a golden, second-spring glow to the grass.

The Center of Middle Fall
The chemical changes in the foliage that became noticeable six weeks ago accelerate until the fragile landscape turns all at once. Shagbark hickories, maples, sweet gums, oaks, sassafras, and sycamores reach peak color. Black walnuts, locusts, buckeyes, box elders, hackberries, pussy willows, ashes and cottonwoods are almost bare. Blueberry bushes are completely red. Vineyards are yellow and brown, only a few grapes left. Some ginkgoes are pale golden green, some just a little faded. Large patches of sky shine through the tattered canopy.

In the cooler, wetter nights, crickets and katydids are weakening. Only a few swallowtails and fritillaries visit the garden, and just a few fireflies glow in the grass. Out in the fields, almost all the wildflowers have gone to seed. Wild cucumber fruits are dry and empty. Hosta pods are splitting, black seeds ready to fall in a storm. Wild asparagus yellows by the roadsides. The final sedum blossoms are closing for the year.

Quickweed still provides a deep green border to the paths, and a few lance-leaf and zigzag goldenrod still hold. Asters are still common, along with chicory and Queen Anne's lace. Pink smartweed keeps blossoming, and catchweed flowers again. Impatiens, petunias and geraniums that have escaped the frost still bloom with the hardier mums and pansies.

The Week Katydids Fall Silent
In the last week of middle fall, the oaks and the osage, white mulberries, magnolias, ginkgoes and the late black and sugar maples move towards full color. The second tier of leaves, consisting mostly of the early maples, is coming down (in the first tier were the ashes and box elders, locusts and buckeyes).

As foliage thins, eastern phoebes, catbirds and house wrens depart. The last turkey vultures circle the northern states. Vast flocks of robins are fluttering, chattering, whinnying, and moving south through the high trees along the river valleys.

Starlings cackle and whistle in the osage. The last cabbage moths look for cabbages. The last daddy longlegs hunt in the flowerbeds. At night, crickets fill in for the silent katydids. Cattails begin to break apart. The final asters of the year go to seed. The final giant jimson weed opens in the cornfields. The last raspberries of the year redden in the sun.