The unseasonably warm weather is causing New England's apple trees to blossom early, about three weeks ahead of a normal year. In parts of eastern Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, the orchards are already showing a lot of color.
Depending on what part of New England you live in, the next week or so will be a good time to drive by your favorite orchard and take in the annual flower show.
It's not good news for farmers, though. Despite the current warmth, it's so early in the season that we will remain vulnerable to frost for the next several weeks, and a hard frost could kill the blossoms and the fruit they would eventually bear. Cold weather after this heat wave could spell disaster for the 2010 crop.
So enjoy the warmth and check out the blossoms. But keep your fingers crossed that it stays above freezing from here on, so that New England's orchards will be as compelling to apple lovers in the fall as they are to honeybees now.
What a great topic. I have a deep affection for the apple trees out front and have imagined that they often connect me to some of the things I have tried to find in church. The apple trees are the very pulse of this small landscape we are caring for. I hope we can avoid a freeze. I look forward to the "dances with bees"performances that will soon happen. I can stand under a tree when the bees begin and they seem not to notice me at all. They are quite intoxicated as they fill my ears with buzzing. What a high moment of spring.
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