Plants Bloom When Temps Hit ‘Sweet Spot’

As climate change brings increasingly earlier warm temperatures, the time that plants bud and bloom arrives earlier, too.

"It seems that plants aim to flower not at a particular time of year, but when the optimal temperature for seed set is approaching," says Steven Penfield. liz west, CC BY

As climate change brings increasingly earlier warm temperatures, the time that plants bud and bloom arrives earlier, too.

Plants have an ideal temperature for seed set—and then flower at a particular time of year to make sure they hit seed development just as the weather has warmed to a “sweet spot” temperature.

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