The Winds of Change

It's been an unseasonably warm week here in the Northeast, reaching as high as 68 degrees on the 23rd of February in the Philadelphia suburbs. The New York Times is reporting that Camillas, Viburnum and Apricots at the New York Botanical garden are beginning to bloom already. Locally, I have seen snowdrops and crocus, but other flowering species seem to be containing their excitement.

Springs such as this throw off the nature of things: flowers blossom while bees are still in hibernation or other pollinators have yet to hatch, migrating birds (who rely on day length instead of temperature, a less fickle benchmark) return to find they have missed the emergence of important food species and, of course, plants that emerge too early run the risk of being damaged by frost. Besides resulting in an unexciting spring, this has potentially catastrophic results as the loss of bloom will result in little or no seed production, or in the case of damaged leaf buds, stress from poor photosynthesis or re-foliation that drain the plant of its energy stores. Animals which rely on the plants for fruit, foliage and cover also suffer.

It can be difficult to draw conclusions about the global environmental causes of this over the course of just one season. Personally, I feel it is erroneous to blame all this on global "warming." Don't forget that in October 2011 we were fearing a long and difficult winter ahead after a Halloween snowstorm knocked out power and covered the area with a blanket of white. The winters of 2011 and 2010 were some of the snowiest on record and coldest in recent memory across the region. Finally, let us not forget Punxsutawney Phil, with a 50-50 chance, he certainly got it wrong this year by predicting 6 more weeks of winter, but for years his other option has been "spring has sprung." This tradition goes back to 1886, which means that more than 100 years ago there was a 50 percent chance that spring was just around the corner on February 2nd in southeastern Pennsylvania, long before the Kyoto Treaty!

Now look, I am an environmentalist - I believe we should find alternative fuel sources, enjoy more meat-free meals, grow organically and scale back our consumption  to live in greater harmony with this planet - I just think that it may not make a difference. The world may be changing for reasons beyond our control or comprehension. So what to do? Well, all those things I just mentioned - but really we should do those for our own good. I also think we should acknowledge that this planet is constantly changing and, unfortunately it may not be to our benefit. The down-side of evolution is that not everything is meant to survive "as-is." Species will  adapt, others will fill their roles and hopefully we will be smart enough to stop trying to save the world we remember and instead start developing habits and technologies for the one that is.

As for what should be blooming, here is a list:

Whitchazel, Helebore, Pieris, Mahonia, Snowdrops, Crocus,