Snowing In June? Nuisance Cottonwood Seeds Return To Metro Detroit

DETROIT (WWJ) - They may look pretty floating in the air, but metro Detroiters love to hate those cottonwoods.

It's a passage of spring that homeowners and allergy sufferers would love to do without -- those floating, fluffy cottonwood seeds that get into everything and look like a snowstorm in your neighborhood.

"In the spring they go through the flowering and the seed production, and these are now the seeds being released to nature where they can find a place to get enough moisture and soil to germinate and grow new little baby cottonwoods," said Dr. Jim Kielbaso, of MSU's forestry department.

Kielbaso told WWJ's Ron Dewey that a lack of a heavy frost from the mild winter means the seeds are currently in full bloom -- so get used to seeing them.

"I expect it's a more-or-less full crop of cottonwood and it usually lasts about a week or maybe two weeks where the ground looks like we've had a snowfall and then they disappear," he said.

It's a small comfort for your allergies or you AC condenser coils, but as long as there are male and female cottonwood trees, Dr. Kielbaso says their seeds will always be a sign of summer.