If April showers bring May flowers, what do "mild winters" bring?

In a week where the first flock of robbins & red-winged blackbirds arrived almost a month early, we are all enjoying what appears to be an early spring. We are talking about the winter that never arrived, and the majority of us in western PA are certainly not complaining. Lately, however, I'm hearing concerns about the impact of a warm winter - about what to expect this summer in the way of insect pests in our gardens.

Conventional wisdom is that a warm winter allows more insects to survive, resulting in increased insect damage in our gardens. While this may be true for some insects that spend their winter vacations buried deep in the ground, it may not be the case for many of the insects that feed on our veggies, flowers & trees. A lot will depend on where you (and those pests) live.

In our area, we've been having 50 degree days followed by nights that dip down into the twenties. For insects that spend the winter hiding under bark scales, leaf litter or other places that will be warmed enough to tempt those insects out into the open, it's unlikely they will be moving fast enough when temps drop to get back to their protective hideaways. That means that eggs may hatch out into more tender larval stages that will freeze before they can do any damage to plants. For those species, their numbers may actually decrease this year, resulting in fewer problems needing our attention later this summer.

Bottom line: No need to panic just yet about swarms of summer bugs. In fact, as I write this, I see a spring groundhog sorting through the sunflower shells beneath my bird feeders and am reminded that he will likely be more of a challenge to my garden this year than any insects.

We all have our own climate, soil and pest problems unique to where we live and what we choose to grow. Let's face it: gardening has so many inherent challenges that one more - even if it turns out to be a larger number of insects attacking my tomatoes - isn't going to tip the scales that much. Personally, I can't wait to see what this garden season brings. Like all who love gardening, I remain hopeful that this year's food and bloom harvest will be better than ever.

photo by Kathy Garrett