This winter is so warm in North Texas, some experts are encouraging people to get out their shovels and plant flowers early.
“Indications are it’s going to be an early spring,” said Carol Riley, garden center manager at Fort Worth’s Marshall Grain Company. “We probably are going to have some cold bumps, but be prepared and go ahead and get your plants in the ground.”
Temperatures are unseasonably warm for February. The high is expected to hit 80 degrees by Friday.
Steve Huddleston, horticulturist at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, said nobody needs to worry about covering plants this winter as long as there is not a drastic drop in the mercury level.
He said some flowers like quince are blooming a few weeks early.
“The flowers last for maybe 10 days – two weeks, at most,” Huddleston said. “So if we have pleasant weather for the next two weeks, there will be no impact.”
But there is still plenty of time for a cold snap. The average date of the last freeze in North Texas is March 13.
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The temperature has dipped below freezing already 14 times this year, according to National Weather Service records. But most of the winter has been above normal, and only a trace of snow was recorded at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in late December.
The last official day of winter is March 20.
