As days lengthen and the air softens, trees quietly signal spring’s arrival with a beautiful glow of buds swelling on branches. Affectionately known as a “glow-up”, it’s best seen when you relax your eyes and take in the entirety of the tree’s canopy.

Weeping Willow

What causes this spring “glow-up” you might ask? The warmer weather and longer days signal the tree that it’s time to wake up by triggering hormones to start the growth process. The tree then activates its stored sugar and increases its water flow. The swelling buds push the bud scales out. In some cases, the buds are floriferous (flower producing) or vegetative (leaf producing), but each species has a uniformity in color for their first growth in spring. Our eyes, if not our souls, stop focusing on the bark color we were accustomed to for so many cold months.

Magnolia Stellata Royal Star

Crabapple

Redbud

And yet, in our fast-moving world, these subtle changes are easy to miss. If we pause to take a “bud break” this season, we can breathe in fresh air and watch these delicate, fascinating moments unfurl. Our neighborhood streets are lined with maples that will gently redden at first then get stronger as we return from our daily commute. The weeping willows along the lagoons in our parks will turn an almost electric yellow as they form their catkins (flower spikes). The native eastern red buds begin to exuberate deep purples as their cauliflorous (stem/trunk produced) flowers slowly electrify the landscape until the whole tree is lit up. The once-static bark almost all but disappears as emerging flowers and leaves take the spotlight.

Sometimes the bud openings of larger trees can be hard to catch since they stand tall and steady in the landscape. If you can catch them waking up for the growing season, it would bring just a little bit more joy and color to your day. The “glow-up” is another gift that spring subtlety gives us as we wake up from a cold, gray winter.