People all over parts of North America have become somewhat worried about the strangely warm winter that we’ve been having. While winter seems to have actually hit this area, others still have above average temperatures.

Lawns are still green and possibly growing in some areas, roses and trees still show signs that they have not gone into dormancy, lakes aren’t freezing over, and the earth hasn’t frozen yet.

For areas that have not yet had normal winter weather yet I’m sure it will come, and this is what is causing many gardeners to worry. Should extra protections be put down on the plants that refuse to go to sleep for the winter?

In early January the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York City made headlines in early January when five of its ever-blooming cherry trees were profusely in flower. That species (Prunus Fudan-Zakura) is expected to begin flowering in late November, but not in such profusion. A few weeks of unusually balmy weather produced a spectacular run of thousands of blooms.

One of the problems is that many trees and perennial plants need a period of dormancy in order to set blooms. Some of those trees and shrubs – Cherry, apricot, peach, forsynthia, lilac, and rhododendron may not bloom this year, or may have been tricked into thinking they’ve already had a dormant period and begin to bloom – just as the cold weather sets in.

With the ground not having frozen yet in many areas some might even have been tempted to plant some very late spring bulbs but that isn’t the best idea because bulbs such as tulips and daffodils are optimally planted in late fall, when they produce good root growth but no top growth. Bulb root development requires several weeks of cool soil temperatures. We’ve had extra weeks of good rooting conditions this year, but that could end with the cold snap next week. Planting now is risky.

Bulbs that are planted too late in the fall, or even in early winter under conditions such as this won’t develop the roots that they need to sustain future growth. It will still send up a flower stalk in spring, and that stalk will need water and nutrients as it develops. A spring-emerging bulb without roots will die, primarily because there are no roots to provide water to supply the growth.