Little green shoots are popping up in flowers beds across Central Indiana thanks to this warm stretch of weather but this has left Hoosiers wondering what to do. Do you cover them? Do you let nature take its course?
We spoke to Robert Darmer from Eagle Creek Nursery in Indianapolis about the warm temperatures and what this could mean for all of our spring time flowers.
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"Leave them alone and let them do their thing," said Darmer.
But for those of you who are worried about the early start, here's what you can expect if you leave the plants alone.
"Leaves have grown up several inches and the tips of those leaves will freeze back again and that portion will die," said Darmer. "The bulb will be fine in the vast majority of cases."
But are you still tempted to do something? We found some people talking about adding leaves, straw or mulch to protect the plants, but this could actually do more harm than good according to Darmer.
"Some are tempted to take mulch and protect the leaves that are growing, but it only further insulates the bulb and the leaves will continue to grow," said Darmer. "It could bring the plant further out of dormancy."
If the plant didn't go back dormant and a hard freeze occurred, you could lose the entire plant for the spring ahead.
One thing Darmer did make sure to mention was the presence of flower buds on your plants.
"We’ve seen instances like this before where flower buds start to form, like during the El Nino winter of 1997," said Darmer. "If those start to develop and then we get a freeze, that’s when you lose the blossom."
If you are still determined to do something, Darmer suggested to only put 1 inch of material around the base of the green leaves. That really isn't necessary, though, if you want to allow that bulb to go dormant again and enjoy your flowers later in the spring.
As for tree buds, those are okay according to Darmer. Those buds will freeze and die but new buds will form in the spring and you will still have leaves on your trees. Darmer said even if a late freeze comes later this year, "the tree will set new buds in about 2-3 weeks."
