Unseasonably warm temperatures lured gardeners outside early this year. In response, plants are much farther along than normal for the beginning of April. In fact, plants are blooming a month early.
As the temperatures plummeted overnight, many gardeners had to cover their delicate seedlings to ward off the bite of the hard freeze.
Still many gardeners woke up to wilted plants and poor looking blooms.So what does this mean for the remainder of the growing season? Will there be a shortage of our seasonal fruit and vegetable favorites?
Co-owner of Frericks Gardens and garden guru Dan Frericks said because there was not a large amount of fruits and vegetables planted early, we should not experience a decline in local fruits and vegetables.
One of the best ways for gardeners and homeowners to prevent any further damage during another frost is to cover your plants and young trees well before the drop in temperatures.
Be sure that you do not use plastic because this can draw moisture under the plastic and damage the plant even further. Instead, use a soft, breathable cloth like a bed sheet. Frericks said, "covering plants won't safe guard against total damage, it will help. If you had a blanket over something compared to a sheet, that would be better. Everybody kind of pushed the early season this year because of the warm weather but Mother Nature comes back and shows you what she is truly about so you can't always beat Mother Nature."
As soon as the temperature warms up above the 32 degrees Celsius, remove the covering and allow the plants to breathe.
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TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKHQA