Free Republic

As the weather warms in May, and neighbors start taking constitutionals around the neighborhood again, we enjoy the fragrance of the flowering trees – apple, cherry, magnolia – and the spring colors of the flowering hedges – lilac, forsythia, and rhododendron. True, the flowers don’t last long… so we enjoy them while we can. As we watch, the buds grow fatter on the branches, as bursting leaves prepare to follow the spring blossoms. Once the early petals are shed, these bushes and trees will be covered with leaves, as the magic of photosynthesis takes over and enables our neighborhood greenery...

With unrelenting cold bearing down on the nation, some may dread the dead of winter. However, the cold also brings with it some surprising benefits. 1. Reduced Number of Tree-Killing Bugs Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive inspect species is known to feed on the bark of trees as larvae, ultimately cutting of the trees water and nutrient supply and resulting in the death of the tree. However, low temperatures bring hope for ash trees, as lower temperatures are known to kill more of these insects, according to U.S. Forest Service Research Biologist Robert Venette. "Around minus 20 F, we typically...