LOOMIS-
The unseasonably warm and dry January is impacting some growers.
At the High Ranch Nursery in Loomis, growers are used to seeing empty branches in early February. Instead, some plants are blooming early.
Lead salespersons Patty Roberts showed FOX40 plants that she’s surprised to see flowering. Roberts says fruit trees like the flowering pear bloomed six to eight weeks earlier than expected.
She says the warm weather has proven to be a good thing for business.
“Customers get spring fever when it’s almost 70 and they just want to plant, and the water really encourages them and they get excited,” Roberts said.
It’s a nice change after the drought caused sales to take a hit.
“It’s pretty scary because when there’s no water sales dropped way low. People are reconsidering because they cant even water what they have sometimes,” said Roberts.
Roberts says it may not be all good news if we see a cold snap this spring.
“The main concern is the fruit trees. If they are all petaled out and then we get a hard freeze in March, everybody’s gonna lose their crops,” said Roberts.
Another result of the warm weather: bugs and insects coming out earlier than usual.
