(Host) With the warmer than usual temperatures of recent weeks, how are the plants and trees doing?
Professor Tom Vogelman is the chairman of the Botany Department at UVM.
He says that for native plants there’s not too much to worry about.
(Vogelman) “Even though we’ve had a pretty long stretch of unusually warm weather, the native plants are probably going to do just fine. They’ve seen warm periods off and on over the last millennia. So although it’s unusual for us to get a particularly long stretch like this, it’s not unusual in the long term.”
(Host) Vogelman says his daffodils and garlic are growing and that the sap is flowing in the maples.
But he says plants and trees have internal clocks and they know from experience not to do too much until there’s more daylight.
He has found one pleasant result of the warm spell.
(Vogelman) “If you really want to see remarkable thing that’s going on in the woods right now, the mosses are absolutely spectacular. The rocks are covered with this incredibly verdant green color. It’s almost an electric green. And it’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before. So one spin-off from this bizarre, warm winter is that the mosses are thriving.”
(Host) Meanwhile, Vogelman says there’s still plenty of time for nature to experience a little winter.