Warm winter weather effects

I have been a serious gardener for only about 8 years. Never before have I seen such warm winter weather; I am in zone 6B and here it is, the beginning of February, and some perennials which ordinarily emerge in March or April are showing green already. Allium, narcissus, dwarf iris are all up. Some shrubs seem never to have gone dormant. Elsewhere, buds are swelling, and on some shrubs this has been the signal for me to prune. But it's February! I just wonder if anyone else has experienced an abnormally warm winter in the past and can tell me how it affected the growth of their plants during the following spring, summer, fall; and how to best adapt in terms of feeding, pruning, etc. I am tempted to ignore it!

I think the problem is going to be the inevitable freeze that will surely come one of these days. All this succulent new growth will be history.

Missgarney,
Greeting from across the mountains. It has been rather warm lately and I too am seeing all these things. My clematis are leafing out. Anyway the warthm is over for a while. Did you get much snow? We got a couple of inches last night.

Gary

Gary, we barely got an inch! We were disappointed.

New to this forum. It was in the mid 70s here yesterday ! Wow . Now watch us have an ice strom for Easter!!!! This is the craziest weather - but then I DO live in the south!!

Hi, everybody--

A little snow yesterday. Who knows what today will bring!?

I was out looking at the garden yesterday and saw that my daylilies peeking out have turned to mush. So too bad. I wonder if that means they are dead and gone or will just start again.

Also have some other unidentified mushy tender shoots from the cold... I hope it's just a temporary thing.

And I'm not putting away the snow shovels and electric blankets for a long while. I'm feeling like the weather is going to turn bitter cold--right around memorial day or maybe even the Fourth of July-- the way weather patterns are this year!

We have enjoyed the dwarf and reticulata irises, now we have crocus and daffodils blooming. At least half of my perennials are emerging. I try to maintain an emotional distance regarding the future and focus on enjoying the present.

Wow it is getting into the 50's today..... but it is Minnesota and there is a forecast for a "singificant amount of snow" starting Sunday and going into Monday. Fortunately most plants are smart enough not to show their heads this early. Unlike we gardeners who say yahoo it is spring.

In general, I wouldn't like to give up any frost-free days, but I do envy the huge plantings of lilacs I have seen in the arboretums of Minneapolis and Montreal.

For fragrance, lilac is my favorite flower.

Here, I have planted 2 of a lilac which is supposed to bloom even if the winter has been relatively mild, and I did have nice blooms last year. Both shrubs look good, have grown, and are in bud now. I have high hopes for some lovely bouquets!

Mmmmm lilacs.

Hi Missgarney, We too have had a warm winter. We started with a good snow cover, but x-mas day it was 35 degrees and melting. I hate it when we have no snow. We are getting rain right now and a few flowers are up already. What warm winters mean for us, is a lot more bugs!

Like I said you never know what will happen the next day.

Hey Zenpotter, In Iowa, that melts pretty fast. Since snow brings minerals that rain doesn't I never mind that last (?) snowfall. We had strong! winds and chilly temps yesterday. I'm not sure the wind has quit blowing since December.

We had next to no winter here either--and now, no rain. Wonder where all those global warming naysayers are now? Missouri supposedly had more tornadoes today (in one day) than they normally have in an entire year.....most bizarre weather nationwide!