April is the great thaw across Maine — ice-out on the lakes, the woodcock dancing at dusk, the first spring ephemerals, and a building tide of returning birds. Winter releases its hold even in the north, and the year's growth begins in earnest.
Week by week in April
April 2–8
- Eastern phoebes sing from barns and bridges, and the first chipping, song, and fox sparrows arrive in waves through the brushy edges.
- In rich southern hardwood woods, the first spring ephemerals emerge — bloodroot, hepatica, and the nodding yellow trout lily before the canopy closes.
- On a warm sunny afternoon, the year's first mourning cloak glides along a woodland edge, dark and ragged after wintering as an adult.
April 9–15
- Ospreys are back on their nest platforms, broad-winged hawks filter north, and loons are settling onto the lakes for the breeding season.
- Marsh marigold glows gold in wet woods and ditches statewide, and the first red trillium (wakerobin) opens in the southern hardwoods.
- As soil dries enough to crumble, direct-sow peas, spinach, lettuce, and radishes, and plant potatoes and bare-root fruit trees.
April 16–22
- The Lyrid meteor shower peaks around April 22, radiating from near bright Vega in the northeast — a modest but reliable shower, best after midnight.
- The first yellow-rumped and pine warblers, ruby-crowned kinglets, and hermit thrushes appear, the leading edge of the songbird flood to come.
- Willows leaf out first along the streams — the earliest real green — and serviceberry (shadbush) buds swell toward bloom in the south.
April 23–29
- The southern woods reach their ephemeral peak — spring beauty, Dutchman's breeches, and trout lily carpet the floor before the trees leaf out.
- The first fresh spring azures of the new generation flutter near woodland edges, pale lavender and delicate, and cabbage whites turn up in gardens.
- Clean up perennial beds and start hardening off the hardiest transplants, but keep tomatoes and peppers indoors — frost is still weeks away.
Birds This Month
April migration accelerates fast in Maine. The first tree swallows snap up insects over thawing ponds, eastern phoebes sing from barns and bridges, and chipping sparrows, song sparrows, fox sparrows, and field sparrows arrive in waves. Ospreys return to their coastal and lakeside nest platforms, broad-winged hawks begin to filter north, and loons move back onto the newly opened lakes, their wild calls returning to the North Woods. Wood ducks, green-winged teal, and other waterfowl crowd the marshes.
The dusk show peaks: male American woodcock perform their twittering spiral display over wet thickets statewide, and the first ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets, hermit thrushes, and a handful of early yellow-rumped and pine warblers appear by late month. On the coast, the wintering eiders and scoters thin out as the breeding season approaches. Clean out and put up nest boxes now — bluebirds and swallows are house-hunting.
What's Blooming
April opens Maine's wildflower season. In the rich hardwood woods of the south and Midcoast, the spring ephemerals emerge as the snow leaves and before the canopy closes: bloodroot with its white petals around a golden center, the nodding yellow trout lily, spring beauty, hepatica, Dutchman's breeches, and the first red trillium (wakerobin). In wet woods and ditches statewide, marsh marigold glows gold as the ground warms.
The gardens wake too: snowdrops, crocus, scilla, glory-of-the-snow, and the first daffodils bloom in the warmer zones, and coltsfoot — an early yellow roadside flower — opens on disturbed banks. Pussy willows finish and the maples flower. The far north of Maine lags well behind the coast; in Aroostook the snow may only just be leaving as the southern woods fill with ephemerals. Catch these woodland flowers early — they fade fast once the trees leaf out.
Garden This Month
April is when Maine gardens finally come alive — but the pace depends sharply on your zone, with the warm coast weeks ahead of the cold north. Once the soil dries enough to crumble (not before — working wet ground ruins it), direct-sow the cold-hardy crops: peas, spinach, lettuce, radishes, carrots, beets, onion sets, and potatoes. Plant bare-root fruit trees, asparagus crowns, and strawberries, and divide and transplant perennials as they emerge.
Indoors, keep the warm-season seedlings — tomatoes, peppers, squash, basil — growing under lights; the last-frost date is still weeks away (mid-to-late May for most of Maine, June in the north), so they cannot go out yet. Clean up perennial beds, edge and mulch, and start hardening off the hardiest transplants late in the month. Watch for frost on clear, calm nights and keep row cover handy for the early sowings.
Zone 3b (Aroostook & far north): snow is only now leaving and the soil is cold. Keep growing transplants indoors; outdoor work waits until late April or May, when you can finally sow the first peas and spinach as the ground thaws.
Zone 4b (interior & mountains): as soil dries, direct-sow peas, spinach, radishes, and other cold-hardy crops, and uncover and clean up perennial beds. Frost is still a real risk well into May, so keep warm-season seedlings indoors.
Zone 5b (Midcoast & south): the warmest gardens are in full early-season swing — sow peas, spinach, lettuce, carrots, beets, and onions, and plant potatoes and bare-root trees and shrubs as the soil works up.
What's at the Farmers Market
April markets in Maine bridge winter and spring. The new-season maple syrup is fresh and abundant, and the winter storage crops — potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, onions, and cabbage — are still around, though the supply is winding down. The exciting additions are the first truly fresh things of the year: greenhouse spinach, lettuce, kale, arugula, microgreens, and pea shoots, plus rhubarb beginning late in the month.
This is a big season for plant starts — markets and nurseries fill with vegetable seedlings, herbs, pansies, and hardy perennials for gardeners. Maine eggs, cheeses, honey, and meats round out the stalls. Choose the freshest greenhouse greens and use them within a few days; pick rhubarb stalks that are firm and glossy, and store them unwashed in the crisper. The overwintered storage roots that remain are worth grabbing before they're gone for the season.
Night Sky This Month
April's milder, lengthening nights make for comfortable spring stargazing in Maine. The winter constellations sink into the west after dusk while the spring sky takes over: Leo rides high in the south, the Big Dipper stands overhead with its handle arcing to brilliant orange Arcturus in the east, and blue-white Spica in Virgo follows it up. The faint smudge of the Beehive Cluster in Cancer is a nice binocular target high overhead.
The Lyrid meteor shower peaks around April 22, radiating from near the bright star Vega in the northeast — a modest but reliable shower, best after midnight from a dark site once the bright winter stars have set. April is also a strong month for aurora in Maine's dark north, as the spring equinox season favors geomagnetic activity. The printable Maine night-sky guide gives this year's exact Lyrid peak, planet positions, and aurora outlook.
Butterflies & Pollinators
April brings the first true butterfly flights of the Maine year. On warm, sunny afternoons the overwintered adults emerge for good — the dark, velvety mourning cloak, with its cream-edged wings, is the classic first butterfly, often seen gliding along sunny woodland edges and roadsides while patches of snow still lie in the shade. Eastern commas and question marks join it, all of them survivors that wintered as adults.
By late April, in the warmer south, the first fresh butterflies of the new generation appear: small spring azures, pale lavender and delicate, flutter near woodland edges, and the first cabbage whites turn up in gardens and fields. These early fliers nectar at the first blooms — willow catkins, coltsfoot, and dandelions — and bask on warm bare ground. The far north lags behind, but across southern Maine the butterfly season is genuinely underway by month's end.
Trees This Month
April is the awakening of Maine's hardwood forest. The red maples finish flowering and the aspens and birches shed their catkins and pollen, hazing the bare woods with a faint reddish-green flush of opening buds. American elm and ash flower inconspicuously, and the willows leaf out first along the streams, the earliest real green of the season.
By late month, in the warmer south, the buds of serviceberry (shadbush), cherry, and the first understory shrubs are breaking, and the tamaracks in the bogs push out their soft new needles — the first conifer to green up. The dominant evergreens, red spruce, balsam fir, and white pine, are still tight in bud, holding their candles for May and June. The far-north forests of Aroostook and the Allagash remain weeks behind the coast, only just beginning to stir as the snow finally leaves.
Weather & Daylight
Across Maine, a typical April day averages a high near 50°F and a low near 29°F, with about 3.7 inches of precipitation — statewide averages from the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals.
Spring stumbles in with 50-degree afternoons and chilly upper-20s mornings, frequent showers soaking the thawing ground.
| Average high | 50°F |
|---|---|
| Average low | 29°F |
| Precipitation | 3.7 in |
| Sunrise (mid-month) | 5:54 ET |
| Sunset (mid-month) | 19:21 ET |
Figures are statewide averages over the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals; local conditions vary with elevation and distance from the coast. Sunrise and sunset are computed for a midstate point on the 15th (ET).
Next month's version of this page, by email
One short note when Maine's next month turns — what's arriving, blooming, and worth a night outside.
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Same month elsewhere: April in Maryland · April in Massachusetts · April in Michigan