Photo by Famartin, Wikimedia Commons.įor much of Michigan, the late spring and summer 2020 were relatively dry. Flowers of oaks (catkins) and other nut trees appear in early spring and often go unnoticed. These flowers, or catkins, emerge from buds that were formed the previous year (i.e., 2020). If you are like most people, there is good chance you never noticed these flowers because they are pale green and inconspicuous on the trees (Photo 3). In the case of the heavy mast of acorns and black walnuts produced this year, the nuts we see on the sidewalk or have to dodge with our bicycle tires began as flowers produced earlier this spring.
To look at the reasons behind this bounty of nuts and cones, we need to work our way back through their development. Why are there so many acorns, nuts and cones this year? Many conifers, such as this white spruce, are loaded down with cones this year.
At the same time, many conifers, notably spruces, firs and Douglas-firs, have also produced huge cone crops (Photo 2). Oaks, black walnuts and other nut trees have produced a bumper crop of nuts this year, referred to as a seed mast (Photo 1). If you’ve noticed an alarming amount of acorns raining down on your deck or that your evergreens are covered with cones, you’re not alone.
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