King Alfred daffodils are showing buds February 2, 2020. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Early Signs of 2020 Spring

The groundhog is predicting an early spring this year, something I would agree with since my mid-Missouri hillside garden has been showing early spring signs for awhile. Quite awhile!

Scientists have forecasted that with our rapidly changing climate, moving at 150-year increments versus 10 million years - our weather and growing patterns will continue to change. I can remember a time when our soil was frozen for several months. I’m not sure my soil this year has ever been cold enough to freeze - i see too many signs of plants still growing.

One amazing sight is of a plant I love because it reminds me of the softness of my cats ears. Lamb’s Ears are a ground cover with deliciously delicate, ever so soft leaves that usually die back. I haven’t seen them die back yet this year. If anything, they are growing.

Lambs Ears spreading through one of my flower beds. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

In previous winters, Lamb’s Ears would hang on through Christmas and disappear under leaves once the ground froze. As I said earlier, I don’t think our soil in mid-Missouri has frozen yet this winter.

I was wondering how my tulips would take not getting their usual 8-12 weeks of cold exposure before they start growing. We think of tulips as being from Holland but they are originally from very cold Northern Hemisphere Russia, where they are used to cold winters to get them ready for spring blooming.

Tulips are also popping up, a good month and a half early. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Here’s another amazing sight, strawberry plants peeking out through their blanket of straw and mulch.

This is a new strawberry patch I started two years ago as part of my “Berry Patch.” I’m mixing flowers among raspberries, blueberries, figs and strawberries as well as mums to keep unwelcome bugs away. This growing bed has a layer of tree limbs in the bottom to retain moisture.

Who sees strawberry leaves this early in the year! (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Not everything is out of sinc. I did find several of my Christmas or Lenten roses getting ready to bloom. They usually are the first flowers to appear early in the year, keeping their flowers until late April.

Lenten Roses usually do bloom this time of year. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I spent two lovely days in the 70s puttering in my garden early February. As much as I enjoyed the sunshine, and was reminded of how sore I can get out in the garden, there was no point in getting concerned. As soon as I was wondering how these plants would fare, and when I would get a break, a winter storm moved in covering the ground in large, beautiful snowflakes.