Early Bloomers are ….. Really Early!

Hellebores or Lenten Roses that normally bloom in March for me are in full bloom. Daphnes, Winter Jasmine, Mahonia, Camellias, Dandelions…… the list goes on. Yes, these are early bloomers normally, but not this early! I planted a dozen small hollies last spring and I noticed that they were putting on new growth still.

Warm winter weather is good for construction and landscapers but bad for ski slopes and snow plows. How about for gardeners?

Grass never stopped growing completely. It just slowed down and remains a pretty green carpet. The ground has not frozen yet. This has implications for overwintering insects. They will be more prevalent next season.

Insects and Other Critters

The usual suspects come out, like stinkbugs. But I have noticed slugs and other flying insects in my cold frame as well as outside in the unusually warm winter weather. Slugs normally hibernate under soil in the winter, but they are munching away at my lettuce!

Oh, and my bees are hopefully flying, looking for nectar. The few flowers out there don’t satisfy them, so I feed them sugar-water in place of nectar. The alternative is that they might starve…. Not a good thing.

Bees use up more energy flying around with nothing to eat and consume their stored honey faster. That means if and when we get really freezing weather, honey stores might be used up and not enough to sustain them until flowers are plentiful. Thus, my feeding regimen to stave off starvation so I won’t have the expense and work of starting new colonies.

 

What Does This Mean For Spring?

The flowers that are blooming now will not bloom again until the following spring. This is a one time deal – spring flowering – so enjoy it when it happens, whenever it happens! Plants only form flower buds once a season. But I think you really won’t notice a big decrease in spring flowers as there are usually so many flowers blooming at once. For my hollies with the tender new growth, if we get some nasty freezes, the fresh growth will burn and turn brown.

Worst case scenario is that plants never go dormant and then a sudden hard freeze strikes. Water inside stems and leaves freezes, the cell walls explode and turns the plant to mush. Mop head hydrangeas could have all their buds turned to burnt crisps and won’t bloom.

Longwood Gardens has reported that their snowdrops and winter jasmine are blooming weeks ahead of schedule.

The annual cherry tree display in D.C. could be subdued if the cherry trees don’t receive at least 114 days of chilling. The problem is that warm weather causes buds to swell and if a hard freeze arrives, the buds will be toast.

The present warmth is primarily due to the impacts of El Nino, which is bringing milder-than-average weather to much of the nation. According to the Farmers Almanac, the second week of January is “red-flagged” to have exceptional cold and stormy winter weather. Boy, were they wrong! So, enjoy the weather while you can. We still have weeks of winter left.