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Purdue University
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Purdue University
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Released: 1-15-98
B. Rosie Lerner
Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist
Although this winter's warm up seems to have happened a bit early this year, garden plants reacted in their usual manner. Each winter tends to bring a brief warming period and this year's just happened to come in early January.
Most hardy plants should not be noticeably affected. The most dramatic response is with early flowering bulbs, such as tulips, daffodils and crocus. These plants may be showing a bit of their foliage above ground now, especially those that are planted near buildings or other warm, protected locations. The leaves may be nipped back now that temperatures have dropped back down below freezing again.
In most cases, flower buds remain protected inside the bulb below ground. If the warm temperatures continue for an extended period, the flower buds also may break out. If so, they too, may be nipped by a hard freeze. The bulbs themselves, however, will survive and come back next year, even if the flowers don't make it this year.
There's not much a gardener can do to prevent nature from taking its course. Mulching over the plants now might smother them and would actually encourage growth by warming the soil further. Application of mulch early in winter after the ground freezes can help keep plants dormant in most years. This winter has been so mild, however, that even the winter mulch may not have kept the ground cold enough.
Most woody plants stil should be dormant at this point. Again, if the warm weather continues for an extended period, we could see some bud break, particularly on fruit trees and landscape plants that bloom in early spring. Also, trees and shrubs that were planted late in the fall, and perhaps weren't completely dormant, might also be more likely to break dormancy.
The further bud growth progresses, the more susceptible the buds become to freeze damage. However, there still isn't anything practical that the gardener can do, short of covering the plants when freezing temperatures are predicted. And that could be an awful lot of work at this early stage of winter.
The URL for this page is http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/bulbsearly.html
