How can you not be romantic about fresh leaves and flowers?

We’ve got a hot-button question for you: Does the spring leaf-out compete with fall color when it comes to visual splendor? Eugene Director Erik Burke thinks so.

“When trees are one-third leafed out and have that fresh yellow-green, they’re so full of life and vibrancy,” Erik says. “And trees leaf out at different times, so you have trees and all these different stages. For me, it’s equivalent to fall color.”

The days are getting longer and warmer, the trees and plants are waking up—these are the signs of spring that make it such an exciting time.

“This time of year people seem to really remember their trees and we get a lot of calls,” says Eugene-Springfield Program Manager Taylor Glass. “We get people wanting to plant trees but also worried that their tree might be dead. We tell them to wait a little bit longer because some trees are late bloomers (or late leafers!).”

Some trees like Oregon white oaks, Kentucky coffeetrees, and crepe myrtles don’t leaf out until later in the spring, which can be a bit worrying when their neighbors are fully leafed out already. Each species responds to its own set of parameters as to when to leave dormancy based on daylight, temperature and angle of the Sun.

“I really love the leaves that ginkgos put out,” Taylor says. “They’re tiny versions of the full grown leaf. They’re so cute!”

Trees take the energy that’s been stored in their trunk and roots and send it out to make leaves and grow buds. Some trees like magnolias and some maples will even put out their flowers before their leaves.

“We have a long spring ecologically,” Erik says. “It begins with the first osoberry bloom in early to mid-February.”

Just like with our own sleep cycles, there are benefits to rising early or sleeping in. Some native trees like California buckeye, Western redbud and Oregon Ash leaf out early, taking advantage of water in the soil for their growth pulse. These trees often will enter dormancy early, too, in the middle of summer drought, and will throw off their leaves as early as August.

Having trees flower in different stages is great for pollinators so that they have steady food sources throughout spring and summer. The Chinese scholar tree will be in full bloom in August or September when pollinators don’t have much else.

Friends of Trees stops planting trees during the summer months so that we can plant trees while they’re dormant, giving time for their roots to establish before they need to put their energy toward growing leaves. But spring and summer is the best time to think about what tree you want to plant, both for the conditions at the planting site and for the spring splendor you want to enjoy.