GRAND RAPIDS — Frederick Meijer Gardens are the place to be in the Spring as the weather gets warmer and flowers and trees start to bud, Unfortunately, a cool stretch of weather has delayed some of the most beautiful trees is in the gardens.
West Michigan has seen cooler and wetter days through the first half of April. Grand Rapids has yet to see 70 degrees in April, as of the 15Th, and only four days have reach the 60 degree mark.
This cooler air doesn't bode well for trees and flowers trying to pop. Ethan Cote, the Lead Horticulturist for the Japanese Garden at Frederick Meijer Gardens, says this year is slow, but the color and window of opportunity is just shifted, not shortened.
"The cherry trees are definitely waking up a bit, but a bit more delayed from last year." Says Ethan. "We'll start to see some more hints of flowers developing and then kind of a grand composition of of many trees at the end".
April has been very seasonable for rainfall, just a few hundredths over the average of 1.90" from April 1 through 15. This means even a delayed bloom won't lack color! Moisture makes flowers and trees bud more vibrantly.
Ethan expects Easter weekend to be the window of quick pop. "Think we'll probably see some flowers come the 19th and 20th of April, and then very much, moving on into next week, we'll be probably seeing peak bloom."
Want to get out and see them at their peak? The Meijer Gardens Website can tell you the best time to go, says Ethan. "We have a new tab on our website that kind of indicates when blossoms are developing, and kind of a cherry tracker".
Track Cherry Trees here: https://www.meijergardens.org/jg/
For the latest details on the weather in West Michigan, head to the FOX 17 Weather page.
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