Plants Blooming Early From Unseasonably Warm Weather

http://usahitman.com/plants-early/

By CBS News

The calendar may say February, but it doesn’t feel like it. Temperatures are expected to hit 60 degrees today and while that’s good for us, it may not bode well for early blooming plants.

On this date last year, the Tri-state area was covered with a quarter of an inch of ice and temperatures were in the 20s. But lately we’ve experiencing 50 and 60 degree temperatures and most people aren’t complaining.

“A very unusual winter, it’s been very warm and this one is one of the most mild I can remember,” said one man from Saddle River, N.J.

“I don’t really miss freezing and having a lot of snow,” said Manhattan resident Cheryl Smith Franco.

“It’s Mother Nature,” said Madeline Byrne from Dobbs Ferry. ”There’s nothing you can do about it so you just enjoy it.”

But Mother Nature may be a little confused by the spring-like warmth.

At the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, Japanese apricot trees are in full bloom along with the yellow Adonis plants and azaleas.

The early bloom could make it tough for these plants to survive if we eventually get hit with a dose of winter weather.

“If it gets really cold, single digits at night for days, all the buds will just die,” said Kristin Schleiter with the Botanical Garden. “If it’s a once-blooming plant and it’s their flower bud, they’re gone until next spring.”

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day. Last year, Staten Island Chuck predicted a shorter winter. Chuck made headlines in 2009 after he bit Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Last year, Bloomberg wore heavy gloves when as a precaution.