WARMTH HAS PLANTS CONFUSED

It is beginning to look a lot like spring even though the calendar says we are still deep into winter.

Some trees are budding and some plants like creeping phlox and snow crocus are starting to bloom in the area.

"Probably a lot of bulbs are up right now," said gardening expert Paul Schnare.

Schnare, who owns Sunny Hill Gardens & Florist, said tulips and other spring plants shouldn't be hurt by any return of winter weather as long as they aren't blooming. If nighttime temperatures remain in the 40s instead of the 20s, plants could soon be blooming.

A cold spell at that point could damage plants, he said. Even then, most plants wouldn't suffer serious damage unless the area has sustained temperatures at night in the low teens, he said.

"Even temperatures down in the 20s are not normally a problem," Schnare said. "I don't think we will have very much that is actually killed."

If temperatures drop, residents can cover their plants with mulch. But Schnare said, "You don't want to do that unless the temperature gets really cold."

A major cold spell isn't likely this month, according to the National Weather Service.

"It doesn't look like there will be any major, long-lasting cold outbreaks," said Jim Keysor, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Paducah, Ky. "But I don't want to completely write winter off the books yet," he said.

The 30-day outlook forecasts near-normal temperatures in the region, with highs in the middle to upper 40s and lows in the mid-20s.

The low temperature should rise about a degree every two or three days throughout the month, Keysor said.

The region hasn't experienced bitterly cold temperatures this winter. The El Nino weather pattern might be partly responsible, he said.

"It is hard to give all the credit to one weather phenomenon like that," he said.

Keysor said most of the arctic air is bottled up well into Canada.