Anchorage is experiencing the highest tree pollen counts in nearly a decade, with counts reaching thousands of grains per cubic meter from birch, poplar, cottonwood, aspen, willow, and alder, triggering widespread allergy symptoms.
Red and Black Currants are present on the property and the moose seem to be picky about what berry they like to consume.
Foam or saliva-looking substance on seen on flowering plants like fireweed and yarrow.
"I don’t recall seeing anything like this before."
Interesting cysts covering a young choke cherry tree.
This season the birch pollen has been particularly bad. Some people with asthma have had to leave the state. The peak was May 18 when pollen counts were 974 grains per cubic meter.
"The first snowfall of this year happened so early that the leaves on the trees had not fallen yet. The weight of the snow on top of the trees that had not shed their leaves caused the trees to incur damage."
Pear shaped cranberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) are likely the result of a genetic mutation.
I have never seen fireweed like this. It is not growing with the normal straight stalk. Is it fireweed? My yard is full of them.
This is the first time I recall seeing Fireweed that has a form like this.
Elevated pollen levels in Anchorage and across Alaska raise questions about changes in respiratory health and the importance of having good air quality during the coronavirus pandemic.
As much of the Lower 48 braces for frigid weather, Anchorage-area temperatures have run some 13 degrees above normal so far this month.
At some point even commercial tree removers will need help with disposal. And what should be planted in their place?
On another year, Christy might just now be finishing up the harvest. But today, the only flowers left from this season are stored in a walk-in cooler.
These tiny, black, thread-like pests dig into plants and like to hang about in gangs, which is why you see so many of them. It is as if they want to be as annoying as possible.
The forest on the East side of Cheney Lake is changing and the biggest change is the proliferation of May Day trees.
The worst-hit areas appear to be established neighborhoods with older spruce trees, especially in Turnagain and Spenard.
The closures of the campgrounds, facing the threat of falling trees, likely will last through summer, the state parks division said.
Warmer than normal temperatures in Anchorage may be causing willows (genus Salix) to bud early.
The latest tally of beetle kill shows more than 550,000 acres of forest with dead spruce from the ongoing infestation this year alone, much of it in Mat-Su.
Discolored spruce (Picea sitchensis) needles
"They are extremely fresh-looking, as if it were the springtime."
We have over two weeks of cold windy weather. It started in mid April around the time of the big wind storm. And in relation of the wind storm on April 24th, Rick Thoman wrote: "Winds this strong in the Anchorage are rare at this time of year. An unusually strong storm for the season in the southeastern Bering Sea produced southeast strong winds blowing across the Chugach Mountains. However, being April, the temperature profile of the atmosphere close to the ground was more conducive than in winter for allowing the very strong winds aloft to reach down to the ground.
Two moose calves found dead outside separate Anchorage homes on Friday are believed to have died from eating poisonous ornamental plants.
Observations From Members 