The saying goes “If you don’t like the weather around here, just wait a couple of days.” That’s never more true than during spring in East Tennessee. The temperature can swing by 50 degrees or more. A fresh mown lawn can be covered in snow the next day. Daffodils always bloom early and almost always find themselves peeking through the snow. You leave the house wearing a coat in the morning and wish you had short sleeves by afternoon.
Thursday through Saturday of last week saw record highs in the upper 80s. Monday night’s low is expected to be in the 30s, with frost possible Wednesday morning.
The heartbreaking part of Spring is watching fruit trees begin to bloom and bud out, only for a late cold snap to come along and literally kill the prospect of sweet peaches, tart apples, and juicy pears for a whole year. And who among us hasn’t set out plants ahead of the Farmer’s Almanac advice, hoping to get a fresh tomato a week or two earlier? The proof in that is seeing a garden full of upside down buckets and old bedsheets in an attempt to save tomato plants from the final frost of the season.
As the season begins to turn, the only thing that’s certain is that the forecast will be uncertain. It’s never a straight line on the temperature scale from winter to summer. We have to go through what folks call the Little Winters. They have no specific date, and there is no government official who declares when one Little Winter has occurred. Sometimes it seems that a couple will run together, but for the most part you can tell which one by just taking a look and what is in bloom. But year after year, they are predictable enough to have each earned a name.
REDBUD WINTER
The first of the cold snaps is Redbud Winter. It’s easy to note when the redbuds bloom; their magenta color is a stark contrast to the gray bark of the trees that surround them. Those first few, truly warm and sunny days are enough to wake them up, and about they time they get in full bloom, the backsliding begins.
DOGWOOD WINTER
Dogwood Winter follows Redbud Winter, sometimes in such quick succession it’s hard to say if one actually ended before the next began. Dogwoods usually first start to bloom when the redbuds are in full glory, but the redbud flowers are quick to fall away, leaving the four white petals of the American Dogwood as the dominate feature of back yards and woods. Dogwood Winter can even bring a hard freeze, and more than a frost or two. You can plant your cold weather vegetables, and if you want to gamble and have plenty of buckets, you could set out other plants. The average Last Frost Date in Tennessee is April 17, but Dogwood Winter can be earlier in April one year than another. Just be aware, there are more cold snaps to come.
BLACKBERRY WINTER
After Dogwood Winter passes we finish April and move into May. The leaves of the trees have started to emerge. Gardens are growing. The danger of frost has largely passed. Now it’s time for Blackberry Winter. Gray days and some rain are usually accompanied by another dip in the temperatures. Fortunately, each of these winters are a little less severe than the ones before. It’s said that blackberry vines need a chill to “set the bloom” so there will be plenty of plump, juicy berries to go with your cobbler and vanilla ice cream later on.
LINSEY-WOOLSEY BRITCHES WINTER
Linsey-Woolsey was coarse woven fabric comprised a linen warp and a wooly weft. (Warp is the vertical threads in a woven material; the weft is the threads that are woven back and forth between the warp threads). The fabric was often easy and cheap to produce and made a sturdy fabric for farmers that was also heavy enough to keep them warm during winter work. But by late May, it is time to put those clothes away in favor of lighter and cooler cotton material. Linsey-Woolsey Winter may not seem much like a cold snap on it’s own, but when you’ve gotten used to days in the 80s, a high of 65 and a low in the upper 40s can see down right chilly. It can often make those Memorial Day weekends on the lake just a bit cooler than you had hoped, or have you taking a long sleeve shirt or light jacket to the picnic.
WHIP-POOR-WILL WINTER
Like the last little winter, Whip-poor-will Winter isn’t named for a particular bloom, but is marked by the nighttime mating song of the nightjar bird that sounds like . . . well, “whip-poor-will.” It the last of the cooler weather. June 4, 1998, the high was 65 degrees. Two days later, the temperatures were in the 80s. When you consider that the heat and humidity that is coming, you’re grateful for this cool snap. You won’t be pulling out the long-johns, but you might open the windows and enjoy a few last nights of fresh air before overnight temperatures might not even get below 80.
