Loving And Fearing Early Springs: Season Comes Sooner, But Cold Snaps Loom

Although it doesn't look like much yet, one of my
perennial gardens in St. Albans, Vermont is way ahead of
schedule this warm spring. However, these early
bouts of warmth increase the risk of freeze damage later.

So far at least, it's yet another early spring here in northern Vermont. 

Like many recent springs,  things are way ahead of schedule, or at least the schedule as it used to be.  

This week here in northwest Vermont feels and looks like what the third week in April used to look like when I was a kid in the Green Mountain State.

On Wednesday, trees were budding in the sunny, warm breezes. The grass was starting to turn green, perennials in the gardens were up and growing rapidly.  Crocuses bloomed everywhere and some of the early daffodils showed flower buds already. 

The only negative thing was that black flies were starting to bother me a little, weeks ahead of schedule.

Actually that's not the only thing that bothered me about this early spring. The trend, anecdotally around here in Vermont and observed in much of the Northern Hemisphere is this: Climate change is creating early springs. Plants are greening up and blooming earlier than ever, at least in general.

However, brief but intense cold snaps are causing lots of crop and garden damage. And that's not to mention how dispiriting it is to watch your early gardens freeze to death.

Here in Vermont, there's no immediate sign of any looming cold snaps sharp enough to wreck spring, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

These frigid spells have damaged gardens and such in the two previous premature springs, so chances are it will happen this year, too.

This kind of pattern has already happened elsewhere this spring, and in recent years.    

It had been a warm winter and spring across much of Europe, so plants, crops and fruit trees began blooming prematurely.

Then a blast of winter chill blew in this past weekend. 

They're still assessing the damage, but farmers and agricultural experts know it's extensive. Plum, apricot and cherry orchards in France have been damaged, as has many of its famed vineyards.  

France had its coldest April morning since 1947 with a low of 29.3 degrees. Record lows were also reported in Germany, Spain and Austria.

This is the second year in a row Europe suffered a harsh spring cold wave after a warm winter. 

As the Washington Post notes, last year's cold snap caused $2.4 billion in damage to French wine growers. Some vineyards lost 80 percent of their grapes.

The damage might not be as bad this year, because the cold hit earlier than in April, 2021. Buds and blooms were not as far along as they were during last year's freeze, so that could minimize the destruction. 

Sharp, destructive cold waves during otherwise warm springs seem to be becoming a thing. Says the Washington Post:

"Climate scientists are concerned that warming late winter and early spring temperatures are increasing the frequency of 'false springs' which spur earlier vegetation green-up before the threat has passed of frigid temperatures that can wipe out young, vulnerable plants."

In the Northeast, a cold shot in the final days of March trashed magnolia blooms, wilted some other early flowers and many have caused some orchard damage in parts of the Mid-Atlantic States

The Washington Post has other examples:

"A false spring in March, 2012 was followed by an April freeze that resulted in a half billion dollars in damage in Michigan. A false spring in 2017 and ensuing early April frost resulted in $2 billion in economic damage in the Southeast."

A 2019 study concluded that despite overall warming temperatures, some plant and crop species will paradoxically suffer a trend of increased frost damage due to more premature springs punctuated by quick freezes. 

The problem extends way past plants. Audubon.org notes that earlier, warmer springs prompt birds to migrate northward earlier than they once did. Some species of birds directly freeze to death if they go north, then encounter a sharp freeze.

Or, insects go dormant during the cold snap, so birds that feed on insects suffer or even die. Or, plants that are a food source for our avian friends die in a freeze after a false spring, so that causes issues. 

Audubon.org suggests adding bird feeders and water sources to your property to help the birds through our newly whacky springs.  By the way, animals might come out of hibernation of the late winter is like spring. Then they find out the plants they feed on were wiped out by an April freeze.

Or, blooms on plants like wild apple and various nut species freeze after a premature spell of warm weather, so animals are not able to find enough food during the subsequent autumn.

Then there are us humans.  There's the obvious toll if somebody's vineyard or apple orchard gets trashed by a spring frost after an early bout of record high temperatures. 

At least for me, this pattern of premature springs followed by damaging freezes is dispiriting.  I'm an avid gardener, and the familiar patterns of seasonal changes are important to me. Always have been. I'm a close observer of day to day changes in the natural world around me, and I can spend hours outdoors just marveling at how seasons unfold, especially spring. 

I'm rather neurodiverse, so forgive me for my indulgence there. As my husband always says, I love going outside and playing in the dirt. 

It actually feels soul crushing to watch some perennials die, say in a Mother's Day weekend freeze two years ago.  Last year, a very early spring led to an April 21-22 sharp freeze and snowstorm that destroyed wild apple blossoms near my house, smushed some of my daffodils, and worst of all, largely prevented my lilac bushes from blooming due to frost damage.

Even the joy of this year's early spring is tempered by the inevitable hard freeze I fear will come sometimes within the next month or so.

I realize those freezes were not exactly the end of the world for me, as I suffered no real monetary loss and my gardens ended up looking fine during the summer. But to have the exuberance of an early spring trashed by two days of winter cold is just one more small, but real example how climate change can mess with your mind.