Surprise!!!
We’ve started visiting local client’s orchard to check on the trees’ development and looking at all of their fruit trees over the past few weeks. Most trees have been in the very early stages of growth, just beyond dormancy. On March 17 while our arborist walked in to a local orchard, he was surprised to see how far the trees had progressed at this point in the season. Surprise!! Some of the peach trees were just beginning to open their flowers. While normally we get excited about flowers opening up in spring, we can’t help but be a bit nervous.
It’s early. The peach trees in this particular orchard normally flower around mid-April. While it is great to be excited about the prospect of spring, we must remember that Mother Nature doesn’t necessarily do things in an orderly and neat fashion that is convenient for us. We always begin to get excited somewhere around April when everything is blooming, but need to remember that it’s still April and the danger of a killing frost hasn’t passed. In years past we had to remember that it was still April, but this year we realize, it is still March!
One forceful reminder is the fact that many areas had snow this weekend and temperatures down to the mid-20’s at night. Flowers are beautiful! Flowers are delicate! Flowers do not like cold temperatures, never mind temps into the 20’s. We’re not sure what to expect when we get to summer, but are preparing for almost anything. Our Arborist is making adjustments to the timing of our Plant Health Care programs so that we can be prepared for whatever the weather may bring. Early flowering and late frosts may very well lead to reduced fruit production many varieties that began flowering early as well as poorer than usual performance on ornamental flowering trees and shrubs. We’ll be evaluating things as we move through the season, but if you’re concerned or have questions, feel free to call and we’ll be happy to come out to give your landscape a spring check-up.
