Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[blissville maples]

I agree....trees are "smarter" (I should say "better adapted") than we give them credit for. In the 40 yrs I've been studying trees, I've only seen frost damage on maples twice -- one of those was 2012, the other, I think was 1983 or 1984. There is a really huge disincentive for trees to bud early....cold temperatures just a few degrees below freezing will kill new leaves, and it takes a LOT of energy to make new leaves. It's analogous to like building a new engine, tossing it out before you ever start it and building a new one without using any parts from the first one...would be very costly for the trees to do that. We still have some really cold days to come.

Ahh some relief!! Lol