What Happens When Plants Bloom Early?

Warm winters and early springs can lead to trees and other flowering plants blooming earlier than expected. Learn why a subsequent frost is the real danger, and how to protect against it, in this episode of BrainStuff.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,
Lauren Bogebam Here, your sinuses aren't the only things confused
by unseasonably warm winters. Hello pollen. It's barely March, and
already many trees and shrubs are showing buds that shouldn't
be appearing until much closer to official sandal season. This

(00:25):
phenomenon leaves many people wondering what that means for their
plants and trees long term. In for example, Gibbs Gardens,
a botanical garden in Ballground, Georgia, opened three weeks earlier
than their normal schedule of March one, as millions of
their daffodils were already blooming in February. But is that

(00:47):
a bad thing? But we spoke with Gibbs Gardens horticulturist
Erica Glasner. She said, I think the plants will be fine,
But what it will do is if something else is
in full bud of for example, and azalea, if we
get a hard freeze, the buds or open blooms will
be frozen. And that is the real problem, not so

(01:07):
much that the weather turns warm early, but that it's
likely to grow cold again and suddenly. We also spoke
by email with London based horticulture and plants expert Gina Lorraine,
as she said, the buds of spring flowers and trees
have hardened periods that are consistent with slow and steady
weather changes. One abrupt temperature fall can thereafter do more

(01:31):
harm than a much colder period in winter that has
occurred in a gradual manner. Also, a lot depends on
whether the blooms are open or closed when a freeze hits.
Lorraine explained there's a difference between a plant having closed
blooms popping up and one that has already opened them.
The latter will suffer significantly greater losses because the cold

(01:53):
weather will almost certainly kill the unshielded petals. Since trees, shrubs,
and plants bloom on their individual clocks, the potential impact
is wide and varied. Lorraine said the amount of damage
done by the late frosts has to do with the
plant's chilling requirement. It's a minimum time period at a

(02:14):
particular temperature low. If the requirements are met, after the
time interval has passed, the plant will keep track of
temperatures and if it notices warming patterns, it will know
it's time to blossom. This process is called vernalization. It
basically tells the trees and shrubs when winter is over
according to the native climate. Furthermore, warm snaps can sometimes

(02:37):
wreak havoc on insects or other animals. A population of
Edith's checkerspot butterflies in the Sierra Nevada of California was
decimated after a series of false springs in The plants
had stopped blooming by the time the butterflies emerged and
had dried up when caterpillars were looking for food. There's

(02:59):
not much you can due to keep nature from taking
its course in these cases of second freezes. Covering up
plants to keep them warm during weather fluctuations can be
a good idea, but it must be done carefully. Use
frames or steaks to prevent the covering from catching the foliage.
Cover the ground around the plants as well, and avoid
removing any covers too soon. Plants are sensitive to sudden

(03:22):
temperature changes both ways, so you don't want them heating
up too fast, say in a bright morning sunlight after
a frost barring prolonged extreme winter weather. Any effect on
buds and blooms will likely be limited to the season
in question, with a bounce back in order for the
next spring. It pays to know which varieties do best

(03:43):
in your region, and Glassonare said native and naturalized plants
are better adapted to surviving periods of drought and cold
spells out of season. Just resist the urge to jump
the gun on spring planting, no matter how toasty the
temperatures in your area, Glasser said, just because they have
stuff in the garden center, you do not want to

(04:04):
plant until the soil temperatures have warmed up. Check with
your local cooperative extension, a small business gardening shop, or
search for advice by zip code to determine when to
start your planting. Even if flowering trees and shrubs do
take a hit, you don't have to fret that all
that greenery will be lost. Lorraine said. Trees and shrubs

(04:25):
have more than one batch of leaf buds, whereas they
produce only one set of flower buds. If the flowers
end up scalded by the unpredictable frost, they won't appear
again the same year. Green foliage, on the other hand,
will the plants will simply reach out their reserves. This
may be so because leaves are essential for the plants survival.

(04:50):
Today's episode was written by Leahoyt and produced by Tyler Clang.
For more on this and lots of other growing topics,
visit has Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production
of iHeart Radio. One. More podcasts. For my heart Radio,
visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows. H