BOSTON -- Folks in Denver and parts of the Midwest are still digging out from under 8-foot snow drifts, while people here in greater Boston are shedding heavy coats and walking around in sweaters.

The National Weather Service predicts temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above normal for the next several days, with temperatures not going below freezing in Boston before next Tuesday, Jan. 10. The Boston temperature at 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon was a toasty 49 degrees.

The unseasonably warm weather is causing many of the plants at Arnold Arboretum to bloom early, but according to officials there, the early visual treat can be a mixed blessing.

“The plants that blossom early because of the unusually warm weather may not provide as beautiful a display during normal bloom times later in the spring,” said Julie Warsowe, manager of visitor education at the Arboretum.

Warsowe said she walked the grounds of the 265-acre site early on Wednesday and noticed that quite a few of the trees were in bloom out of season.

“The Arboretum has 14,000 trees, vines and shrubs from all over the world. Some are in full bloom. Others are past bloom and some are just starting to blossom,” she said.

Warsowe said one rhododendron that normally flowers in late April or May is already in bloom.

But the early foliage can have a downside, according to Warsowe.

“Some of the plants that are showing early growth may not bloom as well later in the spring,” she said.

And the lack of cold weather can also deprive some plants of their natural winter protection from insects and disease. A particular problem is infestation from the wooly adelgid, a pest that affects hemlock trees from in the eastern United States from southeastern Maine to northeastern Georgia and west to eastern Tennessee, according to the US Forest Service website.

“The wooly adelgid is not killed off” when the weather is too warm, said Warsowe.

“We need the cold to knock back that insect population,” she added.

Warsowe said there was one surprising situation out on the grounds of the Arboretum.

“Forsythia, which normally is among the first shrubs to blossom, sprouting beautiful yellow flowers in early spring, has not blossomed at all. Some plants are just unpredictable,” she said.