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 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 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 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 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 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
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
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 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 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 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 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 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. Today's episode was written by Leahoyt and produced by Tyler Clang.
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