00:00If you feel like spring's come early, it's not your imagination.
00:06Everything's out.
00:07Blossoms, bees and blooms have come out with the warmer weather.
00:10The trouble is, it's a month ahead of schedule.
00:13Here at Floriade, Canberra's annual celebration of spring, the beds and garden displays are
00:17looking absolutely spectacular.
00:19But apart from the dedicated gardeners and the very optimistic bunnies, it's completely
00:25empty because it doesn't officially open for another three weeks.
00:29The head gardener of Floriade says that the annuals this year have really enjoyed the
00:32warmer weather and are out almost four weeks earlier than last year, which he says is a
00:37bit early, but they're cooling things down with water spray and have planned the plantings
00:41to keep looking fresh and full of colour no matter when you visit the gardens.
00:46Now, this warm weather has also triggered gardeners to get out and about.
00:50And for commercial horticulturalists, it's a case of bloom or bust.
00:54Hundreds of seedlings and pots of colour have to be ready when the gardeners are.
00:59And if you're not, you miss out on the business.
01:01And over the last 30 years, Paul de Jong has been growing seedlings and potted flowers
01:06for the Canberra market.
01:08And due to the change in temperatures over those years, he's had to shift production.
01:13My spring season is starting earlier.
01:16I'm getting a lot more plants coming on much faster.
01:21And that's a really big shift.
01:23So for me, spring almost starts a month early now compared to when I started 30 years ago.
01:29Winter's getting shorter and spring is starting earlier.
01:32And that's something that's been happening now for a number of years.
01:36It's been progressively occurring over several decades.
01:39And we now have temperatures that are the sort of temperatures we would have experienced
01:44in the peak of spring 30 years ago.
01:47As Jeanette Lindsay says, this warming trend is going to continue.
01:51When Floriade opens on the 14th of September, it's going to be blooming marvellous.
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