The Brunk family’s 1-year-old apple tree, from Four Season Greenery and Nursery, blossomed last week. By Monday, Snow was back in the forecast.
In what is called a “rat-tail bloom,” the tree has bloomed twice this year – in spring and on Thursday.
“There is not an absolute, specific reason that can be pointed to,” Jude Schuenemeyer, co-founder of the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project said. “Often it can be a stress factor. If the tree freezes out once, it can raise enough energy to do it again.”
Gerry Brunk noticed the blooms on Thursday while watering the tree.
The tree is a 4-in-1 apple tree, containing Granny Smith, and Yellow, Red and Double Red Delicious apples. The Granny Smiths blossomed.
When asked if the grafting of the tree could have caused this, Schuenemeyer said it could be attributable to many factors.
“Having four different varieties could have caused competition between the different varieties, which may have stressed it,” Schuenemeyer said. “There are a million things you can speculate on, but it may have happened because it happened.”
In the end, anomalies like this do happen in nature.
“These are living things, and living things can do what they want to do,” Schuenemeyer said. “They have the power to vary.”
The National Weather Service forecast called for a 20 percent chance of snow for Monday morning, with chilly, 15 mph winds. The daytime high temperature was expected to reach 48 degrees, and the overnight low, 28 degrees. Sunny skies were forecast for the rest of the week, with highs reaching the upper 60s by Friday.
