Like plants, gardeners need to adapt to warm weather

We can’t deny it any more: It has been a very weird winter.
If I needed any confirmation of that it came last weekend when I roamed around the yard and saw life emerging from the soil everywhere I looked.
Snowdrops (Galanthus) have been poking their heads out for about a month, and while winter aconite (Eranthis) is not unusual to see at this time of year, the number of daffodils pushing up is certainly uncommon.
And I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted the purple tips of Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) sticking up in a few warm spots in the yard, about a month earlier than what is typical.
I averted my eyes from the Asiatic lily I spotted sticking out from a thick layer of leaves in a particularly warm bed. Nothing good will come of that for a flower that usually blooms here in early July.
And if what we’re seeing with our own eyes isn’t enough, the numbers prove the point. It is the warmest winter based on average temperatures in Milwaukee by more than 2 degrees. The previous record was set in the winter of 1931 to 1932.
The long-range forecast shows only a couple of low temperatures dipping below freezing.
Of course there’s a good chance that another round of wintery weather will still show up, but when I stuck my spade a foot deep with nary a sign of frost, I realized that’s officially time to adjust the plan.
I usually cut back my perennials in April. My preferred method for most parts of the garden is “chop and drop,” where dead and dried material is chopped in pieces — usually with a string trimmer outfitted with a metal blade — and left to lay in the garden. It’s not the neatest look, but it’s quick and eliminates an additional mulching step. It is, however, not a finely detailed operation, and any emerging bulb foliage is in danger of getting chopped and dropped in the process. Which means I need to bump up the timetable by many weeks.
I’m also going to get my ornamental sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) going as soon as possible. They enjoy cool temperatures and can withstand a light frost. With the soil already workable, I feel like I’m already behind.
The same goes for cool weather crops, like brassicas, spinach and even lettuce. Many will be just fine with a bit of frost cloth as protection if the weather becomes more seasonable.
It’s not that I’m trying to rush things, but if a mild winter portends a warm spring or early summer, the whole growing timeline is set to fast forward.
In years like this when an El Nino weather pattern serves up exceptionally odd weather, plants adapt. Some will benefit from that temporary adaptation. Others will suffer, perhaps if they form buds earlier than usual that are then hit with an completely ordinary late March or April freeze. It’s a shame for home gardeners and a tragedy for farmers, but the plants keep going and adapt again the next year.
Perhaps it’s time for gardeners to adapt to what’s right in front of us, unless it’s an Asiatic lily hell bent on showing up way too early. I can’t help that guy.
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