Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- Typical winter weather has finally made an
appearance, although much later than usual. It’s been mild
enough to fool many plants and flowers into thinking spring is
already here. Some of the roses in the garden at Thornden Park
have even started to emerge. But is Mother Nature’s trickery
damaging? "When they start to swell they are also susceptible
more so to very cold temperatures, so what could happen is that
there's no flowering now, but the buds have swollen enough so
that they don't have the cold hardiness that they might need
otherwise to get through the winter,” said Dr. Don Leopold with
SUNY ESF. "The key is if you ruin the leaf buds and the plants
can't produce the photosynthates needed to put on growth, then
you have some really serious damage.” Snow is necessary for the
bulbs people planted last year. It acts as a sort of blanket to
keep them dormant so they stay underground during the winter
months and not popping up when it’s mild, subjecting them to a
winter freeze. Dr. Leo