B.C. apple growers fear late frost as balmy weather speeds apple blossoms
KELOWNA, B.C. — A stretch of unseasonably mild weather has some apple growers anxious about trees that are growing too fast.
The apple blossom may come as soon as the third week of April, about three weeks ahead of normal. When the pink and white flowers are visible throughout orchards, that’s when the trees are most vulnerable to frost.
“I’m a little bit nervous about the weather, because it’s not at all uncommon for us in the Central Okanagan to get quite severe frosts in early May,” Fred Steele, president of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association, said Tuesday.
A late frost during or immediately after blossom can result in fruit that’s stunted and misshapen, considerably reducing its market value.