Early Signs Of Spring Bloom At Brooklyn Botanic Garden


Even though spring is still three weeks away, the mild winter has led to some early color on trees and plants at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. NY1's Roger Clark filed the following report.

The hellebores have bloomed, as have the yellow aconites -- all just a little bit ahead of themselves in these last weeks of winter.

"These are plants that don't really need a long cold dormancy period, so they were cold for a couple of weeks, then it became warm, and they think it's spring," said Brooklyn Botanic Garden Spokesperson Kate Blumm.

The mild winter has brought a little more color to the garden than is usually seen this time of year. Visitors can check out the snow drops, witch hazel, and flowering pear trees. Up until March 11, visitors can take a look-see for free Tuesdays through Fridays. Of course it's still winter, so there is always concern about the weather.

"The worst thing that can happen is we get a cold snap, and that will cause some death to some of the flowers and some of the succulent new growth, so that will be something we will try to avoid," said Brooklyn Botanic Garden Director of Horticulture Mark Fisher.

Fisher also had some tips for folks with gardens around the city who may be experiencing the same early blooming.

"Go around the garden and check on all those little things that are coming up. I would check for mulch, and put a little more mulch protection around it, if you have some evergreen boughs leftover from the holidays, put some of those boughs on top of that, that will help too," recommended Fisher.

A good opportunity to check out the early bloom is this Sunday at 1 p.m. The garden is offering a free tour called "Chase Away the Winter Blues", featuring a narrated walk led by a psychotherapist to get folks thinking about spring and starting to say farewell to winter.

"She's not only able to point out some of then the finer points of what's going on here at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, but also to really connect that to ways that you can appreciate your surroundings, and experience your surroundings, and have that really help lift your spirits," Blumm said.

If you are wondering about the more than 200 cherry blossom trees at the garden, it's still too early to tell if they will be blooming early, but you can follow their progress on the garden's website at BBG.org.

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