An early spring could mean trouble for some plants, says horticulturist
Some flowers are blooming earlier than ever at MUN's Botanical Garden
Rain, drizzle, and fog were exchanged for sunshine and plus-degree temperatures last week in parts of Newfoundland, leaving many residents of the St. John's area noticing signs of spring.
Megan McCarthy, an assistant horticulturist at Memorial University's Botanical Garden, says many flowers are blooming two or three weeks ahead of schedule.
Climate change, she says, is likely to blame.
"When we see a flower in March, obviously we can feel joy and excitement that the winter's over, but at the same time, we can feel sort of dread and climate anxiety because that is not natural," McCarthy told CBC News.
Witch hazel, snowdrops and pink cyclamen are some of the garden's early bloomers — but a few days of snow and freezing temperatures could cause some damage.
"When you have an early spring, it's really hard to pick and choose what you're going to do," McCarthy said." A longer season can mean a lot of good things, but it could also mean if we get bad weather that everything is sort of like struggling at first."
For example, one of the garden's Katharine Hodgkin irises was in full bloom on Friday. By Monday, it was starting to droop following some frost.
McCarthy is also concerned about the garden's blue Himalayan poppies. She said the garden mimics an alpine environment, allowing some plants to grow uniquely in Newfoundland and Labrador.
This year, the poppies are sprouting early, and the last couple of summers have been hot, causing the flowers to need more watering.
"We're battling them to stay alive," she said. "I am concerned about the longevity."
McCarthy expects climate change to exacerbate the province's unpredictable weather patterns.
"I think climate change is only going to make that worse. So when people say, OK, like warming up, that doesn't sound so bad, well, that's not the full story," she said.
Early spring at the farm
At Lester's Farm Market, co-owner Chris Lester said his garlic and rhubarb have sprouted ahead of schedule.
"We're starting to see the garlic starting to grow a couple of inches high already," Lester said.
The rhubarb was a surprise. He noticed the small red sprouts during his interview with CBC News.
"There's some of the maintenance that we have to do with the rhubarb that requires it to be dormant, but I guess that's already gone by for us," Lester said. "Who knows, maybe we'll have some early rhubarb this year."
An early spring for Lester is exciting, but he says it requires keeping a close eye on some parts of the farm, including the strawberry patch.
"We're more optimistic than concerned about it, to be honest with you," Lester said. "We don't want our strawberries to break dormancy too early because then that leads to trouble protecting them from frost later in the spring."
Lester welcomes warmer temperatures and sunshine to dry out his field for spring. He says he is cautiously optimistic.
For people with gardens at home, Lester says it's best to wait until May to start tending to the plants.
"It's no sense getting out on your garden before … the end of April. Wait until we get to May, regardless of the weather," he said.
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