It’s been an unusual fall and early winter. We had a brief spell of cold weather with a killing frost, then extended mild weather, and now a few days of very cold temperatures. Different plants respond differently to each of these weather conditions.

Garlic with green shoots in the fall or early winter is something gardeners don’t need to worry about. It’s not unusual for garlic or shallots to sprout and grow if the weather is mild after planting. You don’t need to cover the plants with more soil. There may be some frost damage on those leaves during the rest of the winter, but the plants will do just fine and put up new green leaves next year. Give your garlic good care next spring and early summer and you should still have a nice harvest.

Spring-flowering bulbs in some parts of the valley have put up some green growth, and a few have even bloomed. Spring bulbs like daffodils only bloom once a season, so individual bulbs that have bloomed in the last few weeks won’t bloom again this spring, but the bulbs themselves should live to bloom another year.

Some home fruit growers have reported that their trees are budding. If the buds are still completely closed, they will tolerate very cold temperatures without damage. Use this link (extension.usu.edu/productionhort/files/CriticalTemperaturesFrostDamageFruitTrees.pdf) to access an online chart that will help you estimate how well your tree buds will tolerate the coming cold winter temperatures as well as the early spring weather.

Photo by Meredith Seaver

Even if some buds are damaged or killed by cold temperatures, it won’t affect the health of the fruit tree.

Some home fruit growers may be worried that temperatures haven’t been cold enough for fruit production. Each tree fruit variety that we grow here requires a certain number of chill hours (between 32 and 45 degrees) during the winter in order to produce fruit the following season. Even with the warmer weather last month, our trees will still accumulate more than enough chill hours.

There’s nothing we can do about the warm weather we’ve had or the consequences. It may be tempting to experiment with “treatments” and management ideas that you may find when browsing the internet this winter and spring, but it’s best to leave things alone, let our plants take care of things on their own and be patient.

Master Gardener Course registration

There’s still time to register for 2026 Master Gardener Course!

If you’re looking for a place to sharpen your gardening skills, understand why problems can pop up in flowerbeds or learn how to improve the yield on your fruit trees, the Utah County Extension Master Gardener course is the place for you!

Photo by Meredith Seaver

The Extension Master Gardener course teaches gardeners about fruit production, good soil management, landscape design, vegetable production, pest management and so much more. Come and join other valley gardeners while you learn how to make good yard, garden and home orchards even better.

Classes will meet each Tuesday and Thursday beginning Jan. 20 and continue through March 17, with an afternoon section from 1 to 3:30 p.m. and an evening section from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The same class content is covered in both sections on the same day, so attend the section that best fits your schedule each day. Due to the coming relocation of the Orem USU Extension office, all 2026 classes will be taught virtually via Zoom.

Registration is open to anyone who would like to participate in the course. Use this link (eventbrite.com/e/usu-extension-master-gardener-utah-county-2026-registration-1681117530789) to learn more or register.

Meredith Seaver is a USU Extension horticulture assistant.