For the answer to this post’s title question, have a listen to Virginia Water Radio episode’s for the week of December 3, 2018, “Tree Buds and Water.” The 4 min./47 sec. episode is available online at this link. This episode features part of “Hiking in the Highland Firs” by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, Va.
American Beech buds. Photo courtesy of the Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, “Dendrology Fact Sheets,” online at http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/factsheets.cfm.
Virginia Water Radio’s is a weekly broadcast/podcast produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. The home page is http://www.virginiawaterradio.org. Have a listen or two!