Daffodils are up! :(

[midwestcoast]

I posted this Saturday in the lame winter thread in the Inglenook, but the thread was already played out, so here it is again. This was taken Saturday in my front yard (faces south):
"Those are daffodils coming up here in the Chicago area!
Last year they bloomed way early on March 12'th. I'll never forget 'cause
It was the day my daughter was born. Wonder if we see that again?
The more I think about this the more it worries me. Not this one event, but what it could mean for many of the plants we know, love and depend on for food, not to mention the basis of ecosystems...
The reason I worry is that more erratic weather is a major projected result of climate change. So what happens if we get periods of unseasonably warm weather in the middle if winter year after year? Plants breaking dormancy too early, flowers and fruits blooming only to get frozen off time after time? What about insects & animals that go dormant or hibernate in what have been long, cold winters for thousands of years? It freaks me out.

On the lighter side: Extra points to the first one with a correct wood ID on the mulch chips.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

this winter has been kinda fluky, i actually saw a robin on the golf course saturday, usually do not see until early march. seeing european starlings early as well

 

[swagler85]

Really looks like mulberry or hedge

 

[midwestcoast]

Really looks like mulberry or hedge

You got it, but no fair guessing twice!
The mulch was scrounged from a local woodland park where they removed all the non-native trees last year and returned it to Oak Savanna as is would naturally be.

 

[swagler85]

You got it, but no fair guessing twice!
The mulch was scrounged from a local woodland park where they removed all the non-native trees last year and returned it to Oak Savanna as is would naturally be.

Nice, Im burning a lot of mullberry this year and it looks exactly like the mulch you have, too bad they chipped it. That stuff throws some heat.

 

[Flatbedford]

There are some plants poking out of the ground at my place too. My grass is also quite green.

 

[Shane N]

I'm kinda excited for the next ice age. Won't be the first time there would be a glacier down the road a bit.

 

[jeromehdmc]

The surprise lillys are coming up I haven't looked for the daffodils yet. We've had robins around all year.

 

[begreen]

It's not just your imagination -
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/01/130116-spring-earlier-global-warming-plants-trees-blooming-science/

 

[jeromehdmc]

I just hope that if things do start sprouting early we don't get a hard freeze. They have had a hard enough time surviving without any rain they don't need any added stress.