The wait will be bloomin' worth it

That unending, harsh winter could bring the suburbs a rare delight starting in the next few days.

The cold postponed some early spring blooms that now seem to be popping out alongside their later cousins.

Flowers that normally are spread out over weeks are all showing off at about the same time, said Boyce Tankersley, director of living plant documentation at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.

"That happens once every 12 to 15 years," Tankersley said. "It's really cool, and you really want to have a lot of film in your camera."

Daffodils, often out in March, are in full bloom now, hyacinths are spreading their fragrance, magnolias are popping and crabapples are getting ready to bloom, said Doris Taylor, plant information specialist for the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

Yellow forsythia, often done blooming by now, is going strong, as are woodland flowers like Virginia bluebells, said Celeste VanderMey, plant records supervisor at the botanic garden.

Of course, bloom time varies according to the variety of plant and whether it grows in a sunny spot.

For gardeners, the show of blooms might be the silver lining in an otherwise difficult spring.

Cold and snow did some damage, and there are perennial plants that will have to be replaced, Tankersley said.

February was six degrees colder than normal, March was 3.5 degrees colder than usual and even April has been chilly until recently, according to data from the Morton Arboretum.

Some plants such as roses couldn't tolerate the cold; shrubs have broken branches from heavy snow; and even bulbs, roots and bark could have damage from meadow voles and mice that eluded predators by burrowing beneath the snow.

At the arboretum, juniper patches died because of rodents, said Ed Hedborn, manager of plant records.

Gardeners should give most plants a few weeks to recover before declaring them dead. Wait until mid-May to evaluate conifers with brown needles, Hedborn said.

In his own garden, Tankersley has roses that died to the ground. Even if they bloom again, the flowers might revert to the root stock rather than producing the hybrid teas he purchased.

Once spring blooms are gone, what does the gardening calendar hold? While May 15 generally is considered a safe planting date, we have had frost into June, Taylor said.

Hold off for a while and watch the forecasts, she said, before planting annuals or perennials that were protected in greenhouses.