When winter weather throws a curve ball, temperatures can warm up, followed by an untimely cold snap. Or things warm up and stay up. Other times the weather’s normal - whatever that is! When warm weather strikes, people can throw their coats on and off. But what about gardens? Do we cover plants in a cold snap? Do we take garden mulch off? What is the right thing to do?

Erratic Temperatures Trigger Tulip Tampering

"We get frantic calls when erratic temperatures cause gardeners to panic," said Sally Ferguson, director of the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center in New York City.

"People want to do something," she said. "They want to protect spring bulb flowers that have come up. But doing nothing is usually the right thing to do. Tulips are tough, they can take whatever Mother Nature dishes out. They’re accustomed to spending winters outdoors, underground - cold winters are ‘business as usual’ for bulbs like tulips, crocuses and hyacinths."

According to Ms. Ferguson, it is not unusual for warm spells in mid- or late winter to prompt tulips, daffodils and hyacinths to suddenly pop up, often weeks and even months ahead of schedule.

"When this happens," she said, "just leave the plants as they are — don’t run out and cover them with mulch. Why give yourself the extra work? When cold weather returns, the bulbs automatically stop growing. No one knows why - it’s one of those unexplained mysteries of nature — bulbs have the good sense to know when to stop."

Cold snaps won’t hurt emerging leaves or closed buds, she added. "Usually people do this kind of damage themselves by bruising young plants in the process of throwing on unnecessary mulches or other covers."

On the other hand, she said, pre-sprouted bulblettes (nursery-grown potted bulbs which can be transplanted to the garden or outside containers in the spring) or already open flowers can suffer from sudden freezing and may benefit from protective mulching.

"Opened petals will turn brown at the edges from weather-related ‘freezer burn,’" said Ms. Ferguson, "but this will not harm the plant itself nor effect its ability to do the photosynthesis needed to recharge itself for next year’s bloom season."

If it looks like a cold snap will zap already open flowers, she suggests taking charge of the situation - with a sharp knife or floral sheers in hand. Most bulb flowers make excellent cut flowers and survive just fine, safe and well-appreciated, indoors.