Worried your flower bulbs are already popping up? Here's what to know
If you've been keeping a close watch on your gardens, you might have noticed some early shoots of green poking out of the earth, or even your first flowers of 2023 — likely a snowdrop or a crocus — already blooming.
And it might have you worried that the cold snap will kill them or that it's a bad sign for climate change, as Rhode Island just recorded its third-warmest January on record.
But, according to master gardener Alan Newton, with the URI Cooperative Extension, you don't need to worry about your spring bulbs.
Why are the bulbs already out?
Spring bulbs start to sprout when temperatures are above 40 degrees, Newton said. The most likely bulbs coming up in your yard are snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and some early-blooming varieties of tulips.
This can happen both from the overall temperatures or from the microclimate they are planted in. The warmth from sunlight reflected off your house or the heat of your home can trigger the bulbs to start pushing out foliage.
And while most bulbs emerge in March and April, it's not uncommon for them to start sooner.
"Snowdrops, hyacinths and some daffodils are very cold-tolerant," he said. "They'll even pop through the snow."
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Will cold snaps harm the plants?
If it's just the green coming up, the plant should be "just fine," Newton said.
"The foliage may get a little nasty looking" from cold damage, he said, "but they're still taking in nutrients."
If the flower bud has emerged, that might spell trouble. In some cases, he said, the flowers might bend down to protect themselves and then perk back up later. Or the flower bud might die — particularly with tulips — and not bloom this season.
"But it will come back next year," Newton said.
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Should you mulch or do something else to protect them?
If you mulched your bulbs in the fall with wood chips, clean straw, compost or chopped leaves, that might help, according to Newton, but "it's not really that necessary." He didn't think any emergency mulching was in order before a cold snap.
His big tip for bulbs had nothing to do with the cold at all, but rather with how to care for them after they bloom.
"Don't cut the foliage until after the flower blooms and the leaves are completely brown," he said.
As long as the leaves are green, he explained, they are feeding energy back into the ground to fuel next year's show.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Spring bulbs popping up in winter won't die due to cold
