Each one was planted as a dedication to my husbands grandfather. This never happened in such magnitude before over the last 43 years. It depends on what kind of maple tree you have, and each is on its own schedule: Red maple -in late spring or early summer and fall. I read it can take 10 years for a silver maple to start dropping keys. I’ve never seen this many before. Helicopters, maple ‘copters, whirlybirds, twisters or whirligigs – no matter what you call a maple seed, they’re still an endless source of fascination. I am not seeing an abundance of seeds in my community but wonder if anyone else has a take on the number of seeds this year vs last. I had to use a shop vac this year on the non grass areas. Why is my silver maple dropping helicopters in the spring? They are so efficient at germinating. He also told me that there is a new spray that some arborist/tree trimmers are using to make them sterile (not produce whirly birds) but he does not wnt to use it b/c it is extremely expensive ( about 300.00 per tree) I have a question; how many different types of seedlings can a silver maple produce? Easter: Why Is It a Different Date Each Year? Here in Loudoun County, VA, 50 miles NW from DC I have maples with far more seeds than I have ever seen. Now tell us efficient ways to clean them up, please? Daylight Saving: When Does the Time Change? About two weeks after samaras mature, sugar maples drop them. Since the seeds don’t fall away from the tree until they’re dry, they’re very light, which helps them travel farther. We have lived in our current home for 3yrs. Is there such a use? That vortex lowers the pressure above the seed, generating even more lift. The wings give maple seeds another huge advantage. These past few weeks we can pick up on our patio at least twice a day. Japanese Maple Seeds. My yard is grass (mostly) because I treat with weed & feed, but right now it looks like the yard is covered in weeds. Doesn’t seem like anyone has an answer to this…. – Stress over the past few years triggers the tree to produce more seeds. This quantity of this year’s silver maple seeds is particularly bad in Indianapolis. She specializes in home, garden, environmental and green living topics. Thanks for posting…..wondered why there are so many this year! That week, Johnny’s Selected Seeds sold twice as many seeds to home growers as they had during the same week last year. California Residents: I agree to opt-in to news and promotions offered by Farmers' Almanac. I can understand emergencies but whether I am on a plane, grocery store or library, people just have a compulsion to talk and talk and talk. Every spring, maple trees produce small flowers that turn into seeds. Keeping them cleaned up and now as they germinate controlling them by pulling when they are small, are the two best weapons you can use. Maple trees with no seeds (helicopters) Asked June 16, 2016, 12:43 PM EDT I have two Norway maples and two silver Maples that usually produce many seedpods, that we call helicopters. Could it be that there were heavy winds and the seeds came in greater numbers? I have seen them forming a varpet of seedlings.We need to keep them swept up, otherwise they will grow out of the drain hole on our balcony.The roots grow very fast. Once pressed into the soil – whether by a passing foot, the weight of snow or something else – the wings break away so that the seed can germinate more easily. Your Halloween jack-o'-lantern will last longer if you coat the cut edges with petroleum jelly. When they’re green you can shoot the seed out by squeezing them. Mother's Day: Facts, Folklore, Recipes, and Ideas, Father's Day: History and Celebration Ideas. That means for a seedling to grow, the seed can’t simply fall to the ground beneath the tree like a nut or a fruit. I grew up in a suburb of St. Louis MO and we called them maple squirts. With a long wing that balances the weight of the seed, maple seeds are perfectly designed for flight. Almanac Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved. Not even close. It is “not” a red maple. Instead of blowing the money we went to Lowes and purchased a Silver Maple tree every week for a month. Peter Geiger is the Editor of the Farmers' Almanac. Sugar maple – The samaras have 1-inch wings that ripen from early summer into autumn. Insects and hummingbirds rely on the same kind of vortex to hover in one spot. We have a lot of the single ones in Amsterdam. I have one giant maple that I have watched grow in front of my house since 1965. Love to have you weigh in at pgeiger@farmersalmanac.com. Easter: Why Is It a Different Date Each Year? Making your famous apple pie and out of apple pie spice? We weren’t able to rake them up, they just kept falling. However, they are small(1 cm), dried up, black and the inside is white. I always thought just 2: a male and female. When the seed spins, the air moving over the wide end of the wing moves faster than the air closer to the seed, which gives the seed the lift it needs to stay aloft. The same person will carry two bags and have the phone cradled between their ear and shoulder from landing through baggage claim. But I do not know why. Tons and tons of seeds and most stayed on the trees until the fall and now they are dropping by the bucketfulls except they are dried out. by Connie Oswald Stofko Maple trees in my neighborhood are heavy with seeds, and some trees have few leaves. We have an excessive amount of seeds falling and what looks like bird droppings but I am wondering if it is sap? Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Full Moon Calendar – Dates, Times and Names, Groundhog Day: Forecast, Facts, and Folklore, Saint Patrick's Day: History, Folklore, and Ideas, Thanksgiving Day (Recipes, Traditions and Trivia). We’re in NJ and had loads of seeds this spring, much more than normal, and we foolishly thought at least we’ll have less as the summer goes on..not so. This year I have to sweep seeds twice a day from ny driveway and sidewalk. Are you a talk-aholic or is this a peeve? Winter Solstice: When Is It, And What Is It? I also live in Michigan, and my yard is filled with Silver Maple seedlings. In fact, scientists are using what they’re learning from these flying seeds to develop micro flying machines and even tiny helicopters that can be used for space exploration or to learn more about the atmospheres of planets like Mars. Those are the basic ideas behind flying maple seeds, but when scientists dug a little deeper into the aerodynamics, they found something interesting. It is making a mess on our patio that is very hard to clean up. There must be a commercial use for these seeds. One way plants respond to stress is to reporduce, thus for most of the responses this probably explains in part why the increase in seeds. Normally, a cold frost kills some blossoms, but this year the usual chill didn't arrive at the right time. When my husband and I were just starting our family he would help his grandfather. I just googled this question and came up with this site. March 13, by the way, is … We all have favorite pet peeves. You can children that you could put the It was fun. One reason is that among trees, maples have some of the largest, widest canopies. First, the technical term for this winged seed is samara, which refers to a specialized fruit that is designed to travel long distances from the parent tree. If anyone can answer this i would greatly appreciate it. I consider them a curse and a nussaince (these were well established trees when I bought the house). No one knows why it happens; it may follow a period of stress for the tree, he said. None of the other maple trees even have seeds yet. Usually our two trees drop seeds twice a year, Spring and Fall. I am looking for a Maple, to ID. I don’t recall them doing this before, Why is my silver maple dropping helicoptera in the spring? When maple seed pods fall from a tree, these little maple tree spinners whirl and spin like blades on a helicopter. Once a maple seed lands, the wing helps it stand upright between blades of grass or other foliage. Maple trees that are healthy sometimes skip a year in seed formation, either due to poor pollination or to an exceptionally good growing season the year before. “These things happen in cycles,” said John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County. Many of our Farmers’ Almanac readers and Facebook fans have been asking about the large number of “helicopters” they’ve been seeing, and does it mean anything? Normally I see them in the spring dropping when they are green but they stayed on the trees this year through the summer. with practice, make a shrill I too was wondering if it had any connection to projected weather forecasts for the winter. These seeds can catch the wind and travel for some distance. Copyright ©2020. It is growing in a wet land area. There was serious drought last year and the canopy of each tree is much thinner than in past years. If you examine a maple seed closely, you’ll notice that the wing gets wider further away from the seed. Same here in Indianapolis. “ I live in Michigan. 25 grams Individual varieties for £15.00 in P&P. These guys are stuck in our lawn! I never lived on a property with any large trees before so i was very naive (especially to the habits of Silver Maples). These have featured them in past almanacs but when I traveled to Mexico and Orlando recently, the peeve that I now find to be most annoying is the use of cell phones. I am also in Michigan and this happens ever three or four years. I live in Upstate New York and am wondering the same thing ! For more information about this please visit. An over-abundance of samaras sometimes means the tree experienced some sort of “stress” the previous year, so producing a bumper crop of seeds is the tree’s way of carrying on the species, should that stress continue and that particular tree not survive. It was much fun. Winter Solstice: When Is It, And What Is It? I am not seeing an abundance of seeds in my community but wonder if anyone else has a take on the number of seeds this year … The upright seeds have a better chance of embedding themselves into the soil below. Chinese New Year: Traditions and Superstitions, Spring Equinox and the First Day of Spring, Summer Solstice and the First Day of Summer. We would love to know why ? We can blow them off the deck with our leaf blower and 1 hour later it is completely covered again ! When you get closer, you realize it’s just maple seedlings. Almanac Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved. Or Become a Member for Even More Features! Copyright ©2020. Love to have you weigh in at, Here is a question from a maple tree owner. Daylight Saving: When Does the Time Change? Maple seeds are one of those natural wonders that feature a nearly perfect design. We have a maple tree and getting home today the seeds are raining from the tree it seems. thank you.” I have never heard of any significance between maple tree seeds and weather or anything else. They are now 25+ years old and growing strong. Please help if you can. Please help! 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