When I was a child, my dad (born in Poland) taught me to watch the "signs" of nature to know when to do stuff in the garden. First flies appear on the house screens: safe to plant early radishes. Maple tree leaves the size of a mouse ear: safe to plant out cabbages, etc.
In California, the swallows return to San Capistrano signals spring; here, in Southcentral PA our harbingers of spring are the turkey vultures *HA*. Yesterday, I saw the grackles and starlings in a stunningly huge flock, streaming across the sky: Sure sign of the end of summer.
Does anybody else have any of these signs (called Phenology) that they notice/use to "tell time" in the MidAtlantic garden?
