In Oakland, California, Shai Tsur is used to seeing colorful pear and plum trees, and bright California poppies bloom in spring. But this year, he saw them popping open in January — a surprise that has many gardeners scratching their heads.
“I’ve lived here for years,” Tsur says, “but having 70-degree days in December and January felt strange. The flowers thought it was spring already.”
This early bloom wasn’t just a fluke. Across many parts of the U.S., plants are waking up sooner than usual. For gardeners, it’s raising big questions: Are these changes signs of something bigger? Could climate change be behind this unusual growing season?
To understand what’s going on, scientists study something called phenology. It’s the science of timing in nature — like when birds migrate, butterflies start flying, or plants begin to flower.
“Phenology tracks the rhythm of the natural world,” says Richard Primack, a plant ecology professor at Boston University. In his lab, scientists keep close records of when plants bud, bloom, and leaf out. Over time, they’ve noticed clear shifts.
“Plants are flowering earlier, and trees are leafing out sooner,” Primack explains. “That’s because the temperatures are rising.”
These changes aren’t only happening in Boston. They’ve been spotted all across the U.S., and even around the globe.
In the Pacific Northwest, Chris Daly from Oregon State University has been tracking long-term weather data. He leads a project called PRISM that collects and maps climate information from all over the country.
“We’ve been seeing warmer, drier summers,” Daly says. “July and August were already dry months, but now they’re getting even drier.”
The PRISM group creates climate “normals” — maps that show weather averages over time. When you compare maps from the past to more recent ones, a clear pattern appears: the U.S. is getting warmer.
So what does this mean for home gardeners like Tsur and his neighbors? It means your garden might need some adjustments. That’s where resources like the Climate Ready Toolkit from the University of California, Davis come in. This guide helps gardeners choose plants that are better suited to new climate patterns — ones that can handle heat and drought, and stay strong through sudden weather changes.
As our gardens change, knowing how to adapt is key. Watching flowers bloom early may be beautiful, but it’s also a gentle nudge that nature’s schedule is shifting — and we need to grow along with it.
