Monday’s storm dropped an average of 4 inches of heavy damp snow across Littleton, Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree, according to observers for the Community Collaborative Rain and Hail Network, or CoCoRahs.

That storm, and the preceding storms of March and April also lowered the boom on flowering plants and trees.

For Littleton residents, don’t expect the crab apples across the city to be a riotous display. The storm of April 10 nipped their buds.

Landscape fruit trees are at risk when the winters are warm and the springs snowy, as the warmth encourages buds and blooms. Then freezing temperatures kill that years’ buds.

“It was a perfect storm of weather circumstances that killed our tree blossoms,” said Alissa Shanley, owner of B.Gardening Landscape Design. “The warm temperatures of January and February tricked our flowering trees into blooming early. We were then hit with three freezes in a row which effectively killed most of the tree blossoms and no blossoms mean no fruit.”

Flowering trees were not the only plants affected by the spring freeze. Early flowering shrubs including forsythia, lilac and rose bushes also incurred damage. According to Shanley, people who trimmed their rose bushes before the freeze may find them dead or sustaining much more die-back than usual.

Despite the bounty of moisture the March and April storms brought to the Front Range, the near-drought conditions through the winter also took a toll an yard plants.

“This winter coming into spring has been particularly hard on our plants,” said Carole Kastler, owner of Camelot Design. “It is essential to hand-water your trees and perennials during the winter to keep them healthy and in some cases, alive.”

Kastler said she has seen many dead boxwood shrubs throughout the metro Denver area as a result of the dry winter.

Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado, a trade group for landscape designers, installers and maintainers, has some tips to replace the blooms this year.

If flowering trees and shrubs were damaged by the spring freeze, think about adding some extra splashes of color to the landscape by adding a few more annual flowers.

Look for later-blooming perennials that will add a little color this year and, more color in subsequent years as the plants become more mature.

To ensure that you have color and blooms throughout the year, landscape professionals recommend incorporating a mixture of early-, mid- and late-blooming trees and plants throughout your landscape.