Spring Ahead! (for the plants too)

Although I seem to function better on “fall-back” or standard time, it’s always an exciting weekend (yet daunting task) to set all the clocks forward one hour.  I’m pretty confident when I say we are all ready to move into Spring, including Mother Nature.  So while “Mom” cranks up the heat index while we are still officially in Winter, the plants are springing ahead too!

I remember last season being such a banner year for flowering trees and shrubs.  Worthy of note is the incredible six to eight week show put on by Kousa Dogwoods all over the state.  Several customers also mentioned to me how well their Hydrangeas bloomed last year.  Not to mention comments received about a Sweet Mock Orange that NEVER flowered before (although I’d like to think my awesome pruning skills may have contributed), and compliments about flowering Weigela in the same roadside bed.  

So what’s it all attributed to?  Who knows.  I guess you could ask a scientist if you want a detailed answer that will likely put you to sleep.  My take on last year’s flowering success is two factors:

 1.) A heavy snow cover that insulated the plants and their roots

 2.) A relatively normal spring that did not include a late frost

So if we translate that to this year, what should we expect?  Time will tell… or you could ask those scientists if you’ve feeling brave.   The good news about this year’s open winter (lack of snow cover) is that with that came mild temps.  Open winter and extreme cold is a bad situation for our plants. While the plants may be confused a bit if the temperatures fluctuate too much from here on out, I don’t think it will be a major concern with one exception: the aforementioned late frost (insert horror movie scream here). 

Problem beings, if that late frost comes along after these plants have come out of dormancy and the buds have swollen and are ready to break, the flower buds may not survive.  Leading to the most popular question in the world of horticulture…. “Why won’t my Hydrangea flower?”

So, as hopeful as I am that it’s another great year for flowers, I do have my doubts.  I mean, this is New England…. there has to be some price to pay for our mild winter, right?