With the wintertime of 2023 - 24 on track to be one of the warmest , if notthewarmest winter everrecorded in Minnesota , what ’s a nurseryman to do ? The short , thwarting answer is : Not much .
Yes , you may add more mulch to plant that seem to be greening up too tight . This will protect them during potential inhuman snaps in February , March or April . you may also take comfortableness in the knowledge that grunge and melodic line temperatures are not the only factors drive when plants break away quiescency in spring . The distance of the day is what tells many plants that it is spring , according to theUniversity of Minnesota Extension religious service . This is particularly important fordeciduous tree diagram and shrubs .
augury of Spring ?
Big, juicy tree buds are bursting out across Minnesota during this unseasonably warm February.Photo: Mary Lahr Schier
augury of the redundant warm winter are everywhere . Bulbs advertize up foliage . Tree buds are getting plumper . Some rhododendron are popping a bloom and opportunistic weeds , such as garlic mustard , are spread . Most of these can just be admired and ignored unless you want to put down that supererogatory mulch or pluck those garlic mustard industrial plant .
Winter Sowing
If you are awinter sower , Northern Gardenercontributor and winter sowing proMichelle Mero Riedelrecommends moving your mini greenhouses into the nicety during these warm stretch to prevent too - early germination . You could also put wintertime - sowing containers on the Union side of the planetary house to stay germination . If seeds do germinate in the containers , you will ask to irrigate them . If you have not sic out containers yet , Michelle recommends holding off until the weather turns cooler or even await until March .
Tapping Maples
Several gardener we screw are tapping their maple Tree to make syrup already . Northern GardenercontributorMichelle Bruhnbegan tapping her maple trees by Feb. 1 , because the temperature had been in that perfectmaple - bug zone . She ’s bright there will be a longer than average maple season , but suppose that tap this ahead of time is newfangled territory . Most of the time , trees are pink in March .
Pruning
Perhaps the biggest concern for gardeners with a warm winter is that yield tree will bloom and then have their blossoms nipped in a frigid tour . This happened in 2012 . While gardeners ca n’t operate that , the affectionate winter and deficiency of snow present the unadulterated opportunity toprune yield Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , hydrangeas and other plants that are best pruned in the dormant time of year .
Seed get down
Do you likepansies in fountain ? Why notstart some seedsnow indoors and see how early you may get them out on your porch . One of ourfavorite Instagrammerstipped us off to this idea . You may be able to put them out in early April !
What ’s work on with the conditions ?
Two climate phenomena are colliding in this affectionate winter . The prompt issue is a secure El Nino atmospheric condition design . due to warmer than normal gentle wind occur off the open of the Pacific Ocean , El Ninoaffects weather patterns across the North American continent . It ordinarily produce warm and drier winters in the North and stale , wetter and tempestuous winter in the South . Most of Minnesota ’s 10 warmest winter occur during El Nino incidents , including the1997 - 98 winterwhich rivals 1877 - 78 for the lovesome .
El Nino is taking place on top of on-going climate change . concord to the stateDepartment of Natural Resources , “ In Minnesota , a typical winter 24-hour interval is now several degree warm than in the center of the 20th century , and ordinary low temperatures during January , our coldest month , have increased by over 10 academic degree F in some areas . ” These higher lows have been most detectable in northerly parts of the land .
Will this winter continue its warm trend ? Most El Ninos last up to nine months — but wintertime can yield . The last El Nino in Minnesota was 2018 - 19 . This was a fallible El Nino wintertime and after a warm start to the season , weather condition turned nasty producing abomb cyclone blizzardin belated February and 8 - plus column inch of snow on April 10.These mapsshow every El Nino winter since 1950 . While the most recent El Ninos have been warm in the North , some in the past have get insensate winters .
How this will regard late winter and leap is uncertain . The long - range forecast bid for a restoration to more seasonable temperatures in the second half of February .
Observe the Garden
This tender wintertime present a fortune to see how resilient your garden is . Which plants wo n’t survive and which seem to keep on go no matter what the atmospheric condition ? Are there warmer geographical zone plants you want to bestow or is now the sentence to plant more aboriginal bush and perennial ? There ’s a lot of “ wintertime ” ahead to observe and excogitate .
Learn more inNorthern Gardener®magazine…
Four seasonal payoff full of growing bakshis and featured garden — written and edited by local northerly horticulture pros just for you .
