Warm temperatures causing trees and plants to come to life too soon

Warm temperatures are causing vegetation to come to life a little sooner than it should.

Mother nature is causing some plants to think it’s spring time. Some people are reporting their bulbs are already coming up a few months too soon.

“If things have started to think spring or want to wake up, then that cold can cause harm to trees, shrubs, roses, things like that,” Drew French, store manager for Town & Country Gardens, said.

If the weather goes back to freezing, it will kill many of the plants and trees that are budding early.

“Any time temperatures rise, sap can start to flow, basically their nutrient system can start to flow,” French said. “And then if temperatures go cold again, then that freezes and that’s what ends up killing the tree or the shrub.”

Trees and plants aren’t the only things waking up too soon. Tetonpest says they’ve seen a lot of bugs earlier so far this year compared to other years.

“This year we’ve seen a lot of spiders, box elders,” Tom Sathre, owner of Tetonpest, said. “More south in Pocatello where it’s a little bit warmer, but Blackfoot yesterday we were seeing wasps out even, which usually don’t come out til late March or April.”

Keeping the area in and around your house clean will help prevent bugs from coming inside.

“Homeowners, I think keeping their place clean around the house, the outside of the house, the perimeter is probably the biggest thing,” Sathre said. “Keeping the mulch cleaned up, any dead leaves, any bushes or trees that are touching the house, keep those trimmed up and cleaned away. And that’ll help a lot of bugs from getting inside the house.”

Town and Country Gardens says if it continues to stay this warm, your plants should be okay. You can try insulating them if the cold hits again.