I get the facebook messages. I'm told face-to-face all of the time. And I'm right there with you!
This mild winter has been rather fabulous! ...lower heating bills, wearing flip flops in February...
But...have you thought about how this could affect the rest of the year? There could be some negatives.
1. A mild winter could mean more rats in the spring. A mild winter means fewer rats and mice die of natural causes.
2. Mild winters affect food crops. Peaches require "chill hours" for trees to bloom and produce fruit. A chilling hour requires temperatures below 45 degrees, and 1300 hours are needed in total.
3. A mild winter could mean an earlier allergy season--a mild winter may cause trees to pollinate earlier and bring an earlier start to the allergy season, and potentially a longer season
4. A mild winter may bring more deer to your garden in the spring.
5. Warm winters confuse some plants. Early spring bulbs...try to bloom too early and then get damaged by frost.
6. And finally...what about insects? Well, I found research to support both sides. First...some say a mild winter means more insects in the spring.
Another expert says a mild winter doesn't mean more insects...it just means they will show up earlier.
And yet again another expert says it's not about bugs appearing and disappearing. Insects have an amazing ability to winterize themselves. The mosquito, replaces some of the water in its body with glycerol which acts as an antifreeze. This allows them to stay alive even when the temperatures drop below freezing.
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