Today's news confirms what we've all been suspecting: 2007 just might be the world's hottest year on record. Climate scientists in Great Britain are predicting that high levels of greenhouse gasses coupled with a resurgent El Nino could spell disaster this year.
Will Pacific storms get out of control? Will Southeast Asia sweat out the winter? Will Australia have a drought this summer? I don't know about any of that. But I do know that my irises are sprouting. They're showing 8-inch tall stems and leaves. And I'm not alone. Everywhere I turn, plants are just downright confused by the mild weather.
Cherry trees at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens are in full bloom, and reader Dolores Gulotta of New Hyde Park reports her irises are developing buds.
Since my plants haven't developed buds, they have a fighting chance of putting on a nice show in the spring, but Gulotta's probably won't. Fred Soviero, director of the Hofstra University Arboretum, says they're spending all their blooming energy now. "I'd think they'd be exhaused and not bloom again next year," he says. "If they do, tell Ms. Gulotta I want some!"
