"First sign of spring" shows up in Minneapolis weeks ahead of schedule
MINNEAPOLIS — If you aren't looking for it, it'd be easy to miss it. But when Minneapolis Horticulture Supervisor Kait Ryan spotted it, there was no mistaking its significance.
The "it" is the snowdrop flower. First spotted Feb. 12 in the city's Lyndale Park Rose Garden, they hit full bloom by Feb 21.
"This is like the first sign of spring," Ryan said. "I've never remembered snowdrops blooming in February in my time growing up in the Twin Cities."
The February bloom is rare — in 2023, Ryan says snowdrops, which are consistently the first blooming flower each spring, didn't come until early April. In 2022, they came in late March.
MORE NEWS: Bystanders became lifesavers at MSP Airport by saving a man suffering cardiac arrest
"That soil temperature kind of triggers the action," she said. "Things like snowdrops, it's going to trigger them coming up whenever the weather is conducive to go — and they're going really early."
Ryan says the early bloom could signify an early bloom across the board — something flower and garden shops are preparing for.
"Mother Nature will play the cards she plays just naturally. Jack Frost will do the same thing. It's up to us to just kind of adjust to it," said Scott Endres, Co-Owner of Tangletown Gardens in south Minneapolis. "I think the one thing that's become relatively constant is (the news) coming back to me and saying, 'Hey, let's talk about the weather again'."
"Obviously with climate change and seeing something come this drastically early, we're concerned about what the rest of the season will bring us," Ryan said.
