Saugus Gardens in the Winter

Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable

By Laura Eisener

If the winter is getting you down, there are a lot of holidays to celebrate this week. Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish “New Year for the Trees” began last night and continues until sundown this evening. Originally a way to count the age of fruit trees and other crops for taxing in Israel, it has grown to be celebrated as a day to appreciate trees, plant them if the climate allows, taste some new fruits or think about the many benefits trees provide to the environment.

The backyard bird count begins today and continues through Sunday. The persistent snow cover will continue to bring many birds to backyard feeders. For more information go to https://www.birdcount.org or use the checklist on ebird.org to record the birds you may count. Cornell Lab, Audubon, and Birds Canada are among the groups that help support this citizen bird-counting effort. People can count birds on their own or join local groups, and some identification assistance can be found on the participating organizations’ websites. Also a useful app for identifying bird songs is Merlin, which you can use on your phone to record birdsongs, then the app will tell you which birds it has heard.

There are many bird species that can be found through the winter in Saugus. One of the most popular because of its song — often written out as “teakettle! teakettle!” — is the Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus). Only the males sing. Their range has been moving northward in recent decades, and it is commonly seen in this area. Essex County is near the northern edge of its current range, which extends west to southern Michigan and south to Florida and northeastern Mexico. Some sources say it is now found in parts of Maine and southern Canada. One of many birds with cinnamon-brownish feathers, it has a plumpish form, a narrow curved beak, a long white eyebrow stripe and a fairly long tail, which it can tilt upward or fan out when it wants to. Both in voice and positioning it seems to be able to convey a variety of moods. While it prefers insects as food, these are scarce in winter so it will eat a variety of nuts and seeds from feeders or from foraging in low branches and along the ground.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 14, is Valentine’s Day, a great excuse to buy yourself flowers! While roses are among the favorites, there are many delightful bouquets you could enjoy in your house to make up for the lack of outdoor blooms at this point in the season. Both our native pussy willows (Salix discolor) and the French pussy willows or goat willows (Salix caprea) sometimes bloom this month, but the buds on mine are still closed tightly, and icicles are on some of the branches. There are several other pussy willow species that are hardy here, but they are not easily found in nurseries in part because they bloom before the ground is thawed enough for planting so most people are not thinking of them by the time the soil is ready.

Tuesday, February 17 is just full of holidays. It is Mardi Gras this year, and some people celebrate by having a nice, indulgent pancake dinner. Get out the maple syrup! In fact, I talked to a few people who started tapping their sugar maple (Acer saccharum) trees this week because the sap flows well when the daytime temperatures are just above freezing and the night temperatures below freezing. The sap runs into March and sometimes April in New England. It is also Chinese New Year. Chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum morifolium) might be the most auspicious plants for celebrating this holiday, but many other flowers are appropriate as well, and it’s another good excuse to enjoy some flowers. These holidays move around on our calendar, but February 17 is also the anniversary date of the incorporation of the Town of Saugus when it separated from Lynn in 1815.