Confused Plants

[John McGaw]

On the 10th of January I did a quick survey of my beds while strolling down
the walk toward the mailbox. I noted that narcissi, crocus, and what I took
to be a stray tulip or three were breaking ground and up to a hand's
breadth high. Hyacinth are nosing through the mulch. One lone yellow crocus
and a few creeping phlox and dianthus were in bloom. Don't they know that
this is the middle of the bloody winter? A week ago there were a few blooms
on an azalea at the end of the drive. This is happening in central East
Tennessee, not the tropics. How are plants supposed to survive this sort of
confusion?

[David E. Ross]

Post by John McGaw
On the 10th of January I did a quick survey of my beds while strolling down
the walk toward the mailbox. I noted that narcissi, crocus, and what I took
to be a stray tulip or three were breaking ground and up to a hand's
breadth high. Hyacinth are nosing through the mulch. One lone yellow crocus
and a few creeping phlox and dianthus were in bloom. Don't they know that
this is the middle of the bloody winter? A week ago there were a few blooms
on an azalea at the end of the drive. This is happening in central East
Tennessee, not the tropics. How are plants supposed to survive this sort of
confusion?

Today, I pruned two rose bushes in front. The 'Honor' hybrid tea and
'4th of July' are still blooming, so I left them alone. Two roses in
back are also still blooming: floribunda 'Iceberg' and climbing 'Peace'.
African daisies on my hill started blooming. My Camellia sasanqua
'Chansonett' is covered with pink flowers. I just saw the first grape
hyacinth flower spike. No, they are not confused. This is southern
California. :)

[David E. Ross]

Post by David E. Ross

Post by John McGaw
On the 10th of January I did a quick survey of my beds while strolling down
the walk toward the mailbox. I noted that narcissi, crocus, and what I took
to be a stray tulip or three were breaking ground and up to a hand's
breadth high. Hyacinth are nosing through the mulch. One lone yellow crocus
and a few creeping phlox and dianthus were in bloom. Don't they know that
this is the middle of the bloody winter? A week ago there were a few blooms
on an azalea at the end of the drive. This is happening in central East
Tennessee, not the tropics. How are plants supposed to survive this sort of
confusion?

Today, I pruned two rose bushes in front. The 'Honor' hybrid tea and
'4th of July' are still blooming, so I left them alone. Two roses in
back are also still blooming: floribunda 'Iceberg' and climbing 'Peace'.
African daisies on my hill started blooming. My Camellia sasanqua
'Chansonett' is covered with pink flowers. I just saw the first grape
hyacinth flower spike. No, they are not confused. This is southern
California. :)

Oops! The climbing 'Peace' rose finally finished blooming, and the one
spike of grape hyacinth is quite faded. I just now revised my Web page
that lists what is blooming. See
<http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_bloom.shtml>.

[songbird]

Post by John McGaw
On the 10th of January I did a quick survey of my beds while strolling down
the walk toward the mailbox. I noted that narcissi, crocus, and what I took
to be a stray tulip or three were breaking ground and up to a hand's
breadth high. Hyacinth are nosing through the mulch. One lone yellow crocus
and a few creeping phlox and dianthus were in bloom. Don't they know that
this is the middle of the bloody winter? A week ago there were a few blooms
on an azalea at the end of the drive. This is happening in central East
Tennessee, not the tropics. How are plants supposed to survive this sort of
confusion?

they'll figure it out eventually.


songbird

[Michael Trew]

Post by John McGaw
On the 10th of January I did a quick survey of my beds while strolling
down the walk toward the mailbox. I noted that narcissi, crocus, and
what I took to be a stray tulip or three were breaking ground and up to
a hand's breadth high. Hyacinth are nosing through the mulch. One lone
yellow crocus and a few creeping phlox and dianthus were in bloom. Don't
they know that this is the middle of the bloody winter? A week ago there
were a few blooms on an azalea at the end of the drive. This is
happening in central East Tennessee, not the tropics. How are plants
supposed to survive this sort of confusion?

Same issue in Ohio, I have Iriuses and a few others popping up. As of
the past 24 hours, they are now under a foot of snow from a freak snow
storm... I guess we were over-due, and had almost no snow this year. I
don't know if they are going to do well (or live) to spring, but I guess
I'll find out.

[The Bjornsdottirs - Reinhilde]

Hi John,

They don't know where they are. They just know how warm the soil and air
around them is, and once their leaves are above ground, how much water and
light ( = sugar, = building blocks and a fuel if you're a plant) is
available.

Depending on how they deal with unseasonable weather when they're supposed
to be growing, they may fare better or worse. To them, the re-onset of
winter will be like having gotten started late in summer and getting
frozen up early.

Again, they don't know where or when they are. They just know temperature,
light, water, nutrients, and their fungal/bacterial friends and enemies.

As of Sun, 16 Jan 2022 17:29:25 -0500, in message

Post by John McGaw
On the 10th of January I did a quick survey of my beds while strolling
down the walk toward the mailbox. I noted that narcissi, crocus, and
what I took to be a stray tulip or three were breaking ground and up to
a hand's breadth high. Hyacinth are nosing through the mulch. One lone
yellow crocus and a few creeping phlox and dianthus were in bloom. Don't
they know that this is the middle of the bloody winter? A week ago there
were a few blooms on an azalea at the end of the drive. This is
happening in central East Tennessee, not the tropics. How are plants
supposed to survive this sort of confusion?