Spring in NC: Leaves Aren’t the Only Things Turning Green
A trio of spring-blooming Leucojum flowers, also called summer snowflakes, at the JC Raulston Arboretum.
April 30, 2021
It’s once again time to dust off the old saying ‘spring has sprung’– and any furniture you keep outside! The season of new beginnings is beginning again, bringing with it the promise of warmer temperatures and the threat of pollen everywhere.
According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and healthline.com, as the climate warms, pollen production increases, leading to an allergy season that gets longer and worse year by year. Panther Creek AP Literature and Composition teacher Bret Andrews concurs. “As a native North Carolinian, I’ve never seen pollen this bad. It could be like the title of a horror movie– The Great Green Cloud. I walk out into my sunroom every morning and I’m just consumed by the pollen,” he jokes.
The intensifying pollen is also a least favorite part of spring for many Panther Creek students, including senior Sarah Merrett. “It makes spring very miserable…. In the peak of allergy season I wake up with my eyes swollen shut,” she says.
However, there are upsides to spring, too– namely, the warmer weather and the positive effects it has. “I love the weather because there’s so much variety and you can always be comfortable outside,” says PC soccer player Dylan Martin. “Being able to spend some time outside in the sun always brightens my mood!”
Another bonus of the weather warming up is the plant life that blossoms in spring. “I love the beautiful flowers and seeing everything turn from grey to colorful,” notes Sarah Merrett. Some great places to see fantastic flora not too far from Panther Creek are the JC Raulston Arboretum and Raleigh Rose Garden, which are both in Raleigh, about seven minutes away from each other. If you’re more interested in seeing animals than plants, you may only have to go as far as your own backyard to see toads, rabbits, lizards, birds, and more! You may also want to keep an eye out for cicadas in May– but it’ll likely be hard to miss them.
Polls by Ivan Lin.