Early Warmth Followed by Frost

This year every frost is an occasion of great concern.  Not that frosts are unusual in April, but that the record warmth in March, which saw at least 7 days with temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s, has brought forth early blossoms that should know better.

If you live in the Northeastern US, you have experienced a strange spring thus far.  The plants thought that 80F meant, “ Blossom, leaf out, grow!”  And then when the frost hit, they shriveled.  What does this all mean for our garden year?  Many things. 

First, the bad news: any fruit tree that was foolish enough to bud and blossom will bear no fruit. The fruit farms up along the lake plain by Lake Erie in our neck of the woods are saying that the sweet cherry crop is gone, and some other crops are in danger of being very light this year.  On a more personal garden note, my plum bush has nothing but barren blossoms at this point (it is known for its overenthusiastic early bloom).  Along these same lines, any shrub that broke into early bloom will be done now – no May magnolia blossoms, the forsythia has come and gone.  The annuals that came up from self-seeding or early seeding brought on by the delusion that early warmth really did mean early spring, are dead – buy more seeds and wait a month to get them out there in the dirt.  And don’t beat yourself up, I did the same thing, and I really should know better.

The good news, because there is much good yet, is that all the rose bushes that put out early leaves that have since frizzled and faded will put out new leaves at a more appropriate time.  Your perennials that rushed the season with new green growth that is now brown and crisp will put up new growth.  Be sad that it happened, but don’t go out and dig them up, they are just having a setback.   The bulbs that bloomed early, daffodils and early species tulips and Siberian squill and the little checkered Fritillaria meleagris have just come and gone earlier than usual and will be back next year. There are some plants that don't even notice the frost.

Frosts following above average temperatures can leave your garden looking like a disaster area, but the truly good news is that most plants can take a setback, regroup and come roaring back at a more appropriate time.  It is hard to watch, especially if you are a new gardener and hesitant about your skills yet, but it is one of the great lessons of gardening that teaches both respect for the natural world and all of its foibles and the patience that all the best gardeners have cultivated in themselves.

Did I mention that we had 4 inches of snow overnight?