Nature & You: Oklahoma's beloved redbud trees are waking from their winter slumber

Here's your opportunity to test my abilities as a soothsayer and seer. My prediction is that all of our beautiful redbud trees will be in full bloom on Friday of this week.

I feel confident to stick my neck out like this because all of my nature journaling assures me that this will be so. Oh so many of Mother Nature's spectacular events are closely coordinated with the ever-so-predictable changes in daylength. Year in and year out, nature phenomena such as the trees' release from their winter season dormancy are as reliable as clockwork.

Be that as it may, it really makes no whit of difference if we carefully calibrate the duration of the day in relation to the ever-diminishing length of the night. It's our job, instead, to venture a look out of our home's window so we might revel in the wonder of the natural world's awakening. The flowers on the redbud trees are our well-earned reward for us having patiently waited out the bone-numbing cold of the winter season air temperatures.

I hope you enjoy the show.

Neil Garrison was the longtime naturalist at a central Oklahoma nature center. His email is atlatlgarrison@hotmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Nature & You: Oklahoma's redbud trees are waking from winter slumber