Climate change sparks flowering confusion
Flowering times are changing as temperatures rise, with magnolias blooming as early as December
Gardeners have reported summer flowers blooming in mid-winter for the first time as global warming continues to drive up temperatures to record highs. The seven years to 2021 were the hottest on record, and this year has continued the trend by clocking up the UK’s warmest-ever New Year’s Day. In Poole, Dorset, tropical plant enthusiast Mike Clifford was astonished to see his South American bromeliad
Aechmea recurvata in full flower outdoors in December. “It’s one of the hardiest forms, but for it to flower in December is bizarre,” he said.
The annual New Year Plant Hunt, run by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI), chalked up over 900 species in bloom – the most since it began in 2012. They recorded a red-hot poker
(Kniphofia) in flower in Kent, outside its normal late-summer season, as well as summer wildflowers like cornflowers. “We don’t know if we should be delighted or worried,” said the BSBI’s Louise Marsh. “If plants and pollinators become out of sync, how is it going to pan out?”
“Nothing is predictable any more,” says Chris Kidd, curator of Ventnor Botanic Garden on the Isle of Wight. He says the garden’s microclimate puts it at the “acute end” of climate change, with magnolias now flowering any time from early December to April, and summer flowers such as verbascum and acanthus blooming in mid-winter. “The triggers are becoming muddled,” he says. “Plants don’t know what they should do.”
The Royal Horticultural Society’s chief horticulturist Guy Barter says out-of-season flowering does reset itself, usually resulting in a second flush of flowers at the normal time. But, he says, the lack of cold weather could also affect flowers needing a winter chill to bloom, like daffodils. “Daffodils at Easter could become a thing of the past if they don’t get enough cold,” he says. He advises planting a wide range of varieties that flower early, mid- and late season to guarantee a good display whatever the changing climate brings. “It’s not a critical thing – it doesn’t spell doom,” he says. “If things get completely out of kilter, that’s a different matter – but we don’t have the information on that just yet.”
Have you noticed flowers in your garden blooming out of season? Let us know at our usual addresses on page 167
Daffodils at Easter could become a thing of the past