When the world turns yellow

Spring arrived in the neighborhood last Wednesday at 5:58 PM Eastern time. It came with a hurrah from all the TV weathermen complete with cute graphics of spring flowers, chicks and bunny rabbits dancing in the background. But the weathermen notwithstanding, the biggest sign of spring around here is that the world turns yellow. For this is pine tree country.

Left: Some small pine cones and below them, a cluster of "pine worms" You really can’t use the flowers to tell you that spring is nigh. With our mild winters, some of our hardier flowers start blooming in January and some don’t start until May. You can’t go by the birdies either. We have already been through several rounds of bird’s nests so far this year. Squirrels are no better; one abandoned nest is spreading stuffing all over the yard as the spring winds and rain tear it apart. I wonder where the squirrels found all that polyester stuffing material. I sure hope Winnie the Poo and Eeyore are still safe. Those squirrels are relentless.

Relentless is a good word to describe the yellow-green coating of pine pollen that covers the outside world around here. It dulls the bright winter colors for weeks on end. Someone posted a drone photo of a pollen covered cove in nearby Lake Murray on Facebook and that reminded me of how I hated to clean the pollen out of our San Juan 21 sailboat before the early spring races. There are yellow crusty patches along the edges on the neighborhood streets where what little rain we’ve had the past couple of weeks have deposited the runoff from the yards. I’m so ready for the April showers to come along and finally wash the yellow off the world.

There is a 50 % chance of rain tomorrow and that should give us some relief. I don’t think it is the end of this year’s pollen skirmish; I can see the “pine worms” through the window of the studio hanging on to the branches of the pine trees yet. In case you are wondering what “pine worms” are; they are the male twin to the female pine cones that deliver the yellow pollen to our world. Pine pollen season is over with the majority of these inch-to-two inch long pollen producers fall to the ground. Then we need another big rain to clear the ground of all of the fallen “pine worms.” Once all the debris is clear we can get on to the business of spring and summer.

Every time I walk out to the car to drive somewhere, I have two thoughts in rapid succession. The first is “Man, I got to get this car washed” and then “Not yet! Not until the yellow plague is over!” Last weekend, I took one of the cars down the street to get an oil change and then a couple of stores farther to get a car wash. Comparing the two cars in the driveway out the window just now, I can’t see the difference in the pollen dust.

By the way, many folks around here blame the pine pollen for their spring allergies. The experts tell me that pine pollen is too big to be the culprit. According to them, other tree pollens and the early blooming plants are the real culprit. Just the same, you won’t find me sniffing a “pine worm” to test that theory. Just sayin’!

If my calculations are correct the world will return to normal colors in another few weeks. The Camellias, Tulip Trees and Yellow Jessamine are all past prime blooming and the Azaleas and Confederate Rose are showing signs of life. Soon there will be new growth on the Crepe Myrtles and the growing season will be in full swing.

Speaking of Crepe Myrtles, I need to do a little rant here about those so-called gardening experts that believe that severe pruning of these beautiful trees is proper care. To me all that does is create an ugly sight during the winter months and rather spindly top heavy shaped trees in the summertime. The three Crepe Myrtle trees in the yard here have never been trimmed that way and they look good in the winter and provide great shade in the summer. And they are less prone to disease and wind damage than their unfortunate over cropped brethren. End of rant.

So tomorrow, I will pass some beautiful spring foliage as I drive through the neighborhoods on my way to the radio station. The skies will be partly cloudy with a few shafts of sunshine in anticipation of the rain that should start around 6 PM. We’ll soon find out if the rain will bring down the “pine worms” and end the “Yellow Season.” No big deal if it doesn’t; there is a long period of rain forecast to begin next Sunday. That should do it! Oh MY!