Mild winter in US worries horticulturists

New York Times : From New York City to Washington, DC, to Chicago, plants and flowering bulbs are bursting out two to four weeks ahead of schedule, writes Lisa Foderaro for the New York Times. Although many people in the US are enjoying an unusually early spring, a mild winter is not necessarily good for plants. Buds and blooms may be triggered too early and suffer if temperatures suddenly plunge. Pollinators such as honeybees may not be ready to get to work yet, which can affect crop yield. Because the ground isn’t frozen, hungry squirrels start digging up the bulbs, and destructive insects get started ahead of schedule. Also, milder winters mean a more gradual, possibly less spectacular, spring—and evoke the issue of global warming. “This winter, when they do the final analysis, will be close to an all-time record breaker,” said David Wolfe, a professor of plant and soil ecology at Cornell University and an expert on climate change. “It’s a rare event. But I think it will become less rare.”