bad year for daffodils

This morning Georg and I took a stroll around the garden. Something we like to do every day or so during the growing season. To see how things are doing, what needs attention, and just to appreciate the garden as it develops and changes throughout the year.

I've commented on the unseasonable warmth a few times. Though, as Lisa pointed out, taken in isolation it's not unseasonable at all. It's common, maybe even normal, for us to have a few very warm days in early January. What isn't normal is for April-like weather to continue on, and on. With the exception of short cold spells in early November and in December, winter almost hasn't gotten started this year.

And because of this extended warm weather with few frosts, the growing season for 2007 has begun already. Our walk revealed new growth on a bunch of perennials; the self-seeded cilantro thriving; beet seedlings from the seeds I planted a week ago; and daffodils sprouting up everywhere. The perennials can take care of themselves, the beets will be fine unless we have record cold temps coming up, and the cilantro is a freak occurrence that I'm not too concerned about. But the daffodils are bad news.

They're way early, and when it finally gets cold, any new growth above ground is at risk of being frozen. That's fine if it's just the leaves -- they'll look a little ratty with brown ends, that's all -- but if the buds emerge in this warm spell and then freeze, we'll get yucky flowers or maybe even no flowers this year. And that would be a damned shame. I suppose we could protect them by piling up mulch to cover the buds. But with almost 600 daffodils to cover, all of them mixed in with perennials that shouldn't be buried, it's just not practical. Alas, I predict it will not be a good year for daffodils.