24 February 2018
Last Tuesday’s summer weather made a difference to early rising bulbs.
I found crocuses blooming on Friday, snowdrops on Wednesday, and …
… daffodil leaves 3 to 4 inches tall.
Is this early for crocuses? Indeed it is.
Thanks to my blog, I have a record of first blooming dates in Pittsburgh’s East End going back to 2009 (except for 2016):
- March 11, 2009
- March 11, 2010
- March 14, 2011
- February 28, 2012 (the Hot year!)
- March 18, 2013
- March 22, 2014 (the Polar Vortex year! They bloomed for only one day because the deep freeze returned March 23.)
- March 18, 2015
- I don’t have a crocus record but it is probably March 7, 2016 based on temperature data, this post about coltsfoot, and feedback from Supriya who lives in Squirrel Hill. See comments. (I usually photograph them at Schenley Plaza or Phipps.)
- March 1, 2017
- and now –> February 23, 2018.
This year’s crocuses are blooming even earlier than in the Hot year of 2012.
The plants know our climate is changing.
(photos by Kate St.John)
I have pictures of crocuses in my backyard (Squirrel Hill) from March 7 and 9, 2016. I also take pics of the first crocus each year!
Supriya, thank you!
In our yard in Forest Hills just east of the City of Pittsburgh, snowdrops came up on Feb. 13 (!) and daffodils yesterday. Earliest by far for our property. Forsythia also started to bloom in our neighborhood yesterday.
This morning I spotted my first Red Winged Blackbird. Spring can’t be too far off.
I love the sweet little crocus. I have long said that they struggle for 363 days to push their little “noses” through the hard soil and bloom, only to get snowed on!!
This morning saw several snowdrops and a crocus blooming or at least trying to here
in Forest Hills. Daffodils up 3-4 inches and early tulips up too. Hoping we don’t get
a deep freeze like last year. That combined with the rabbits managed to severely curtail
my tulips.
My daffodils and tulips have hardly moved in the last 4 weeks! They may end up being early to rise, late to bloom!