Tennessee “Little” Winters
We hate them, so we had to name them.
We hate them, so we had to name them.
In the Appalachian area, there were considered to be six “little winters” each spring, as the people spread into Tennessee, the dates may have changed a bit, but we still seem to cling to our “little winters.”
Here in Tennessee, are the disappointingly cool winters about which the earliest Tennesseans kept weather/planting journals.
One of the earliest such farming journals in the Tennessee Historical Society’s collections belonged to John Sevier, the first governor of Tennessee. In his short notes, Sevier remarked on what would have been dogwood winter: “[April 1795] Sun. 20 Wintry & cool Mr. Sherrill & son Wm. Dined.”
Tennessee’s farmers named other “little winters” for their correspondence to natural, and in one case cultural, phenomena. Here’s a list of the most common “singularities” of spring, with dates based on Middle Tennessee. The little winters occur later in the spring in the higher elevations of East Tennessee’s mountains, and earlier in much of far West Tennessee.
Locust Winter — This little winter is named for when leaves start to appear on locust trees in early April, and others when the trees bloom in May.
Redbud Winter — Mid-March to early April, when the redbud trees bloom.
Dogwood Winter — Mid- to late April, when the dogwood trees bloom. a heavy frost can occur in dogwood winter.
Blackberry Winter — Early to mid-May, when blackberries are in full bloom. In the Tennessee mountains, this often coincides with the last frost of spring, which can kill new plantings on the farm.
Whippoorwill Winter –Mid- to late May, when the whippoorwills can first be heard in the twilight of evenings and before dawn.
Cotton Britches Winter — Late May or early June, when the linsey-woolsey (linen and wool) pants worn in cold weather were put away and farmers changed to the light cotton pants of summer.
Being a more contemporary Tennessee farmer, I have always considered tax day, April 15, to be the final frost date of each spring to allow safe planting. This date was taught to me by my late father-in-law, one of the best non-full-time farmers I have known. It happens to be his birthday, as well.
With help from the Tennessee Historical Society et al.
Thank you for your time.
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