The unseasonably warm temperatures so far this December have fooled some plants into blooming far too early, local arborists say.

Trees and other foliage should be dormant this time of year, according to experts at the Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens in Stamford.

Some plants are budding now rather than holding off until the normal season in March, says the arboretum's Todd DuPont. 

He says that when temperatures eventually do fall, the buds will die and the plants will finally become dormant. But when that happens late in the year, the plants might look peculiar when they blossom again in the spring.

"You might see less flowers this year," he says. "But overall, I still think we're going to get our cold winter, and things will operate pretty normally."