PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Some cherry trees have come out blooming in the last week or so. But is this normal?
Seeing pretty white and pink cherry blossoms in the late fall, especially in early December, seems like a sure sign of climate change. But Andrew Bunting, vice president of Public Horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, said not in this case.
“It’s called the Higan Cherry, and it’s sometimes also called the Autumn Cherry. And it blooms most profusely in the spring, but it also blooms sporadically in the fall,” he explained.
He said that could be anytime from September through early December, depending on the weather.
“But if it’s mild, like it has been, that flowering could continue all the way into the fall and into the early winter as well, it’s kind of weather dependent,” he added.
Bunting said the cherry’s official, scientific, Latin name is Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’.
He also said the cold temperatures could actually protect it for a while.
“The cool weather helps preserve the blossoms, it’s like putting a cut flower in a florists’ cooler and helps preserve it for a longer period of time because it’s cool,” he said.
Bunting said the cold temperatures that we are getting right now are still all right for the blossoms — the temperature could go into the low 30s and the flowers would still be putting on a show.