Whenever Susan Beyerlein’s yellow daffodils start to spring up, she is reminded of her deceased grandmother.

“I’ve had them for 35 years. My birthday is at the end of April and every year she would come help me plant them. I have such fond memories. So it makes me sad to see them wilting away like this. But they’ll be back next year,” the Royal Oak resident said.

The bulbs in Beyerlein’s front yard started to come to life Monday and Tuesday. By Friday afternoon, the daffodils were drooping over in the flowerbed, a sad testament to this so-called spring.

And it looks like it’ll be at least a week before relief arrives.

Today’s predicted high is a cloudy 35 degrees with some snow flurries and a low of about 24, according to Accuweather. The average high for early April is 52 degrees with a low of about 35.

Temperatures next week will range from highs of 43 degrees to a more seasonable 52 degrees through Friday. The lows will be in the 30s with rain and snow likely, keeping gardeners at bay.

David Havenstein, manager of the Plant Station in Birmingham, said spring bulbs such as tulips, hyacinth, daffodils and crocus typically start to sprout in late March and early April when warm weather creeps in.

“They’re out now but they haven’t had time to really blossom because of the cold,” Havenstein said. “There is a lot of foliage on the ground, and flowers are looking rougher than normal. The good thing is that it’s not going to kill them. But they may have a hard time standing back up again.”

Unfortunately there isn’t much a gardener can do to protect planted bulbs from the elements.

“The cold is the cold,” added Havenstein, who noted most good gardeners are aware it’s too early to plant anything in Michigan.

Some experts recommend placing burlap over plants to shield them and storing new buys in the garage for a limited time. But they will eventually need some sunlight.

William Swanson of Birmingham finds it all rather depressing.

“It’s like we are being teased,” he said. “At first we were having such good weather and all kinds of stuff started to shoot up out of the ground making everyone excited that spring is here.

“But now my tulips look as if they are on their last leg. This cold snap and high winds are sucking the life out of them.”

You can reach Delores Patterson at (248) 647-7225 or dpatterson@detnews.com.

source : www.detnews.com