Blooms and Weather Shifts: Insights from Bill Caras

It’s starting to bust loose! Warmer temperatures mean many outdoor plants are showing signs of awakening from their winter dormancy. However, we will see plenty of ups and downs in the weather over the next month. There will most likely be numerous frosts and occasional snow flurries, mixed with days of fort sleeve temperatures.

Here are a few things I’ve noticed on my last few walkabouts. Many fall-planted bulbs are blooming, including crocus and scilla. Miniature iris as well, and even some hyacinths in warmer spots. Perennials such as iris and chives are poking out of the ground and, in many cases, already have several inches of growth.

Weed seeds are germinating in nearly every bit of open ground they find themselves in. Now is the time to get on top of them, as their root systems are barely developed, and the plants can be easily pulled. Young weeds are more susceptible to organic weed sprays than fully grown weeds later in the year.

Pussy willow catkins are on full display, and forsythias are on the cusp of being in full bloom, with bright yellow already showing on their still unopened flowers. Lilac buds are quite swollen, even though their bloom is still more than a month away. Most maples are also displaying well, and “Red Maple” varieties are already blooming (dark red small flowers). Maples are not really known for their blooms, but in a few weeks, Missoula’s famous Norway Maples will be covered in multitudes of small, soft yellow flowers. Cottonwoods and aspens are also blooming around town, but their brown flowers are not particularly attractive. Apricots and peaches also bloom in April, making them our first really colorful trees. The downside to this early flowering is that the flowers can be destroyed by a hard frost, meaning that fruit set will be minimal or nonexistent.

But what a joy when they do fruit. Incredibly tasty! What lies ahead weather-wise is anybody’s guess, but the proliferation of life in the garden (and in the wild) is certain. The buds are telling us. The birds are telling us. The sunshine is telling us.