Winters in Western New York have looked different the past few years.

"I grew up in south Florida, but I’ve been up here for a long time and the winters that I first experienced, they’re very different than the ones we have now," said Marci Muller, horticulture team leader for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County.

This year is what is called an "El Niño year," with our weather flucuating between warm and cold days.

"Things are getting warmer. And it seems like the past couple of winters have been milder," Muller said.

And while not everyone is a fan of the warmer weather, many plants are.

"Used to be we always started our vegetable gardens on Memorial Day weekend and as the years have gone by, we’re now planting early May for plants that are not frost hearty," Muller said. "I mean nobody knows for sure but the trend indicates that the season will be extended so for us thats a good thing."

Many plants in the area can adjust to the changes in temperature.

"As far as perennial plants, plants that come back year after year, either they are herbaceous and they die back to the ground and come back from the same roots every year or are woody perennials like trees and shrubs, they can handle that," Muller said.

But some plants like Spruce and Pine trees need the cold weather to rest.

"So if that gets compressed into a smaller period of time, it would probably impact some of the plants that really like to have that dormant period. They’re gonna move further north," said Muller.

Meaning some farmers may have to adjust with the weather in the future.

"Probably the farmers are going to have to adapt and start growing different crops because what they’re used to growing is now going to need to grow further north and so they  have to bring in something that they never thought they could grow before," Muller said.

But these are only indications from current trends, as just like we can’t predict the future, we can’t predict the weather.

"Theres just so much to be found out as things evolve," said Muller.