Tulip Garden Update: October 12, 2001 Today's Report Includes: The First Journey North Gardens Have Been Planted Tulip Planting is Contagious "Oh, I was born too soon!" Going to Extremes: The Annual Microclimate Challenge Taken Tulips Travel- Discussion to Challenge Question #2 How to Map Fall Data- Challenge Question #3 Keeping Critters Out of the Tulips The First Journey North Gardens Have Been Planted Gardeners reported planting tulips in 36 locations to start this year's International Plant Study. In last month's report we were waiting for the first gardens to be planted. And the word was heard across the globe as shovels came out to dig from 26.9E (Utsjoki, Finland) all the way to -123.1W (Eugene, Oregon). Link to This Month's Garden Data In Winnipeg, Manitoba (49.92N, -97.12 W), Third Graders from Frontenac Elementary scientifically choose their garden site: "After a lot of searching for the best place for our tulip bulbs, we found that the bed we planted in two years ago was the right spot for this year. Our Winnipeg temperature was about 20 degrees C and the air temperature at the bed was very close, about 18 degrees C. It will be interesting to compare the growth of this year's bulbs to those of two years ago." (marlene.mortimer@sbsd.org) In Bancroft, Ontario (45.02N, -77.45), Third and Sixth graders together created a garden: "The almost world-famous grade 3 class, with assistance from the grade 6's have planted their Journey North tulips, in the Kindergarten playground, on Tuesday, October 2 in the afternoon. We have planted our Journey North tulips and many other species of bulbs as a peace garden and a healing garden in honour of our friends in the USA- we are thinking of you and praying for you! And from Utjoki, Finland (69.9N, 26.9E), "Hello from Utsjoki, Finland! We have planted our tulips today. The weather is cloudy and the temperature is about 35F/2 Celsius. It was snowing some days ago but then it turned warmer and the rain melted all the snow. -Good luck because we were late with the tulips. This year we had problems with getting the bulbs because they don´t recommend Red Emperor this far in the north. Remember, last spring our tulips bloomed - in June! Best regards, Annikki Lauerma" (annikki.lauerma@koivu.utsjoki.fi) Tulip Planting is Contagious Eileen Conroy, most often known as "Sam," has some sort of contagious enthusiasm for the International Tulip Study. This fall she has been involved with the planting of 6 garden sites. Mrs. Conroy's students planted a Peace Garden at Our Lady of Mercy in Bancroft and 3 other gardens at their homes. She also instigated gardens at the library in nearby Coe Hill and in Noelville. What a great opportunity to study the effects of microclimate as we watch the wave of spring to pass through their part of Ontario. "Oh, I was born too soon!" Tulip planters at Lakota Elementary Lakota, ND first graders have some special help with their Journey North tulip garden. Armed with large scooping spoons they take on the planting of their part of the big experiment. They reported, "The lady, Marie, in the photo is the senior citizen who has helped us them with Journey North projects the last 3 years. Marie gets such a kick out of the 'internet' aspect of the project! Her comment the first year she watched us log on to the JN website was, 'Oh, I was born too soon!' We keep her updated with maps periodically and call her to come the very day the tulips emerge and bloom. She usually comes within 5 minutes of the phone call! Since then, she has e-mailed the photos to her grandchildren all over the country and talks about JN to many of our community's senior citizens! I recently received a JN t-shirt and we are going to present it to her today." Going to Extremes: The Annual Microclimate Challenge Taken In Ewing, VA students experimented with planting some bulbs in the sun and some in the shade. We are still waiting to hear from you about your experiments: "Where did you plant your two "Experimental Journey North Gardens" for the Microclimate Challenge? Describe your experiment, and explain why you chose the sites that you did. Finally, predict how many days there will be between the blooming of tulips at your two sites." Tulips Travel- Discussion to Challenge Question #2 Red Emperor tulips travel a long distance to get to your garden! How far have they come? Challenge Question #2 asked, "Find Amsterdam on a map and imagine the bulbs made a straight line directly to your garden. How far did the bulbs travel to your garden? (Whose bulbs traveled the farthest?)" We measured 4,166 miles (6704 km) from Amsterdam to the Journey North headquarters in Minnesota. That isn't the farthest so far, though! Looking at today's map, the winners for the greatest distance are 8th graders at Goshen School in Eugene, Oregon whose bulbs traveled 5,108 miles (8221 Km). Here is a hint for finding how far it is from Amsterdam, Netherlands to your garden: Visit "How Far is it?" How to Map Fall Data We recommend marking the location of each garden on your map using color-coding labels. (The "Avery" brand 1/4 inch size works well.) Write the date each garden was planted on the face of the label. Next spring, you can record the date the tulips emerge and the date they bloom at the same site by covering each label with a new one. Doesn't this make you wonder? Challenge Question #3 "Do you think the date that tulips are planted this fall will affect the date that they emerge and bloom next spring? Why or why not? How could you test this?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Keeping Critters Out of the Tulips North Side Elementary Photo Gayle McGehee Protecting delicious tulip bulbs from getting eaten starts NOW when you are planting! Squirrels think of tulips as gourmet treats and will dig up the bulbs if they can. Rabbits, deer and moose seem to find the emerging plants delicious, too! Help your plants out by covering the planting beds with some chicken wire or screen for protection. In areas where there are lots of hungry critters take more precautions. As the plants grow in the spring, fence and cover the plants with more chicken wire and you will be glad you did. Hint: Give your Tulips Wigs! One of our teachers is going to try repelling critters with a generous sprinkling of human hair from the local salon. How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message. 1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-tulip@learner.org 2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #3 3. In the body of the message, answer ONE of the questions above. The Next Tulip Garden Update Will be Posted on November 9, 2001 Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form