Panayoti Kelaidis has worked for the Denver Botanic Gardens for 45 years. He’s seen a lot, but not this.
“This is a Cornelian Cherry (tree), and I have never seen it bloom in February,” he said. “That's almost always a March thing, and it's definitely opening its flowers.”
It’s the mildest winter Kelaidis believes he has experienced. That weather shift has triggered some early blooms at the Denver Botanic Gardens. He’s seen around 50 to 100 different flowers that are blooming ahead of schedule.
“What surprises me is that there's actually not more happening,” he said. “It's been cold enough at night, I think, that things have held back a little more than we would have thought.”
Some flowers – like Snowdrops – are already past their prime.
“I was here last week, and these were absolutely gorgeous,” he said, pointing at the shriveled white flowers, laughing. “Look, they’ve finished blooming in February.”
Colorado has had a record number of 60-degree days this winter. Earlier blooms are becoming more common across the country with warming trends.
Kelaidis said flower lovers shouldn’t panic. These plants have learned how to adapt in Colorado’s ever-changing climate before. And, even outside of the state, plants have learned how to survive in the most adverse conditions of glaciers and deserts.
“Nature will always thrive. She will be different, perhaps, than what we want or what we expect, but I'm not really worried about nature,” he said. “The wonderful thing about nature is that she never repeats herself. She's always coming up with something new and clever.”
The warmer weather has also allowed garden workers to get more work done, Kelaidis said.
“Our gardens are impeccable, look at them. There's not a weed in sight,” he said. “Everything's been trimmed. We've been able to work all winter. In fact, you'll see my colleagues out here working in short sleeves today, and that's pretty cool, isn't it?”
And it’s exciting to see some of these early bloomers. Kelaidis said visitation has jumped in the past few weekends due to the warmer weather.
He expects more flowers to pop up this week as temperatures warm up even more.
