Get Ready For a Perfect Storm of Pollen, East End

As sunshine and warmer weather finally begin to thaw out the last remnants of winter, allergy sufferers may suffer a backlash from the delayed onset of warmer weather.

The unusually long dormant season for trees and flowering shrubs is finally coming to end as the sun strengthens and the earth gradually defrosts from what was the coldest winter on record since 1984.

This abbreviated and late spring is expected to usher in a spectacular array of shrubs and flowers that will bloom in one sudden burst of color, according to The New York Times—unless of course the plants were irreparably damaged by the cold and choose not to bloom at all. 

The Washington Post predicts pollen counts far higher than average due to the compressed duration of this year’s transition from winter to spring unless the vegetation was so severely damaged by winter’s deep freeze that some trees decide not to bloom at all this spring.

Vegetation-wise the news from the field is good: “The trees and shrubs have not been damaged,” Geoffrey Nimmer of East End Gardens in East Hampton said. “Even though it’s so late I haven’t seen a lot of stuff opening or setting buds. But our tough winter didn’t kill off the plants I’m seeing.” Translation: It will be a beautiful spring, but stock up on Claritin.