Northern Utah has at least another month before the danger of a damaging freeze is past, and some fruit trees may learn that the hard way.
"They're starting," Junior Nielson said of his budding fruit trees in Perry.But having farmed in Utah for many years, Nielson is a prag-ma-tist.
"If you worry too much, you can't be in the business," he said.
To hurt the fruit crop, Box Elder Extension Service agent Thomas Reeve said it would have to get down to around 25 degrees, which, this being Utah, could happen.
"No two years are alike," he said. "This year it's been warmer earlier than any year since I've been here," he said. That's been eight years.
For the record, April 9 is the earliest date for the last spring freeze in his area. May 21 is the latest.
Last year, all but two fall months registered above-average temperatures. And this year is following that pattern.
February 1995 was the warmest February on record, about 7 degrees above normal. That's on the heels of January, which was also 7 degrees above normal, said William J. Alder, meteorologist in charge of the Salt Lake Forecast office of the National Weather Service. .
But that doesn't mean a freeze can't still sneak through, he said.
"If we get snow and a clear night, it's still possible," Alder said.
That's not good news to gardeners who are itching to put out annuals. But Allen Combe, the general operation manager at Valley Nursery, said it's sound advice.
"Annuals should not be planted until after May 15," he said.
If you just can't stay out of the garden, there's plenty of stuff you still can do.