NEW HANOVER COUNTY — It might be the end of January but don’t let the flowers know.
This year has gotten off to a warm start which has had an effect on plants around the region. At the Arboretum, camellias show colorful blooms and even cherry blossoms can be seen starting to emerge. The warm weather follows the trend from 2019, which was the second-warmest year on record in Wilmington.
“We haven’t had a January start off this warm since 1950,” National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Armstrong said in a previous interview. “So we’re certainly in some pretty unusual circumstances … As a whole 2019 was the second warmest year in history in Wilmington behind 1990. So these warmer years are starting to stack up pretty rapidly.”
Lloyd Singleton, director of the Cooperative Extension and Arboretum said this year’s blooms have come about 3 weeks earlier than typical. While it might add some color to the cooler months, there are some drawbacks to the early ‘spring’ for the plants.
“A deep cold snap may be injurious to plants particularly if tender flush of spring growth begins,” Singleton said.
The spring ‘leaf out’
The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) tracks the status of ‘spring’ across the country using a couple of metrics — they track the emergence of leaves and flowers on lilacs and honeysuckles.
“The First Leaf Index is based on the leaf out of lilacs and honeysuckles, which are among the first plants to show their leaves in the spring. This Index is associated with the first leafing of early-spring shrubs and other plants. The First Bloom Index is based on the flowering of lilacs and honeysuckles. This Index is associated with blooming of early-spring shrubs and leaf out of deciduous trees,” according to the organization.
It’s not just Wilmington, the group has identified early spring arrivals across the country.
“Spring leaf out has arrived in the Southeast, over three weeks earlier than a long-term average (1981-2010) in some locations. Austin, TX is 10 days early, Jackson, MS and Charleston, SC are 17 days early, and Wilmington, NC is 22 days early,” according to USA-NPN.
