Early spring: forsythia and apricot bloom earlier this year

Spring plants are currently starting to flower one to two weeks earlier than the average in recent decades. According to Geosphere Austria (formerly ZAMG), January and February were almost always too mild. The development of many plants therefore started much earlier than in an average year. For example, forsythia and dirndls are already blooming in many places at lower altitudes.

Global warming works

The flowering of the apricot has already begun, as in the Wachau, in the Vienna area and in northern Burgenland around the Leithagebirge. “This means that the development of the plants is currently about a week ahead of the average for the last 30 years and more than two weeks ahead of the average for the period 1961 to 1990, which was not so badly affected by global warming,” said Helfried Scheifinger from Geosphere . The next few days will also be spring-like: Friday and Saturday bring plenty of sunshine and maximum temperatures between twelve and 17 degrees, with a foehn in the west occasionally up to 20 degrees.

Early spring still prevails at higher altitudes, which begins with the flowering of the snowdrops. Dirndl and Sal-Weide are also in bloom. Coltsfoot, Hepatica and Spring Snowflake follow. In the lower elevations, the first spring has begun with the forsythia blossom, and green leaf tips can be seen on horse chestnuts. Blackthorn and sycamore are in bloom, and the larch unfurls its needles. Full spring as the last phase of spring comes with the beginning of flowering of apple and lilac and ends with the raspberry blossom.

Nature calendar as an app

Interested parties can collect their observations of nature with Geosphere’s free “Nature Calendar” app. Research projects are thus supported – for example for investigations into how plants and animals react to climate change. Over 118,000 observations have been entered to date.