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Tulip Garden Update: April 20, 2001
Today's Report Includes:
- Excitement Spreads Across the Continent
- Reminder- Important Definitions
- What's In a Name? History and Taxonomy of Tulips
- Carl Linnaeus Organizes Plant Names
- Trade You a Tulip for Four Fat Oxen!
- Holland's Fields Coming into Bloom: Challenge Question #17
- A Hootenanny in Anchorage!
- Challenge Question #18
- Six Year's Worth of Data
- A Wet and Snowy Winter For Some!
- What is a bud? Discussion of Challenge Question #15
Excitement Spreads Across the Continent
A map
is worth a thousand words. Take a look at the state of the springtime throught the
eyes of a gardener. Can't you just feel the sun's rays warming the soil through the
continent? Gardeners have reported 10 more gardens emerging and 12 new blooming tulip
gardens since our last update!
Read some of the exciting comments we have received!
From Kentucky, Simpsonville Elementary's Tulip Team proudly announce the arrival
of Spring. On Friday, the opening day of Spring Break, the tulips were showing red.
By Sunday, April 8, the flowers were in glorious full bloom.
From Sappington School's LEAP program in St. Louis, MO we heard:
"Wow! Our 3rd graders were very excited to have our first tulip bloom practically
under their noses. It wasn't open this morning, but when the sun came out after 12
noon, it opened. Today we had a field trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to observe
and draw their bulb gardens. We took jeweler's loupes with us, and our drawings,
observations, and reflections were wonderful. Returning from the field trip to find
our first tulip in bloom was a spectacular way to end the day. They examined their
predictions·they were excited about discussing data!!!"
From Simpsonville Elementary inSimpsonville, KY: "Simpsonville Elementary's
Tulip Team proudly announces the arrival of Spring. April 6, the Friday of Spring
Break, we saw red showing through as if t'o say 'Spring is indeed here'. The tulips
were in full bloom by Sunday.
Ashburnham, MA finally feels it too! "When the snow finally melted our tulips
were just waiting for a sunny day to emerge from their wintry homes. Spring has arrived
in Ashburnham, MA!" K. Bastille and class, Grade 3
Just in time for publication, Ira W. Travell School in Ridgewood, NJ reported on
April 16. "Our tulips bloomed the day we returned from our Spring break, April
16, 2001. Last year our tulips bloomed on April 7, nine days earlier. We had a total
of 219 Growing Degree Days this year as opposed to 369 for the Spring of 2000. We
are glad that Spring has finally arrived!"
What's In a Name? History and Taxonomy of Tulips
Tulipa fosteriana 'Red Emperor' is the botanical name of the tulip that thousands of Journey North participants are planting every year to mark the beginning of the spring season. We often call it by its common name, 'Red Emperor,' but how does it get its whole name?
Carl Linnaeus Organizes Plant Names
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Trade You a Tulip for Four Fat Oxen!
What can you buy for four fat oxen, eight fat pigs, twelve fat sheep, two hogsheads of wine, four barrels of beer, two barrels of butter, 1000 pounds of cheese, two loads of wheat, a bed, a suit of clothes and a silver beaker? In the 17th century that load of goods is what one beautiful and rare new tulip bulb might cost! "Tulipomania" had hit the scene in Holland. Horticulturists were breeding new and different tulip colors and shapes causing a stir within the aristocracy. Everyone with money wanted to have the latest in tulip fashion! In Holland, this was the beginning of a 400 year interest and production of some of the world's most beautiful and fascinating flowers.
- Learn more about the tulip's history in What's In A Name?
Holland's Fields Coming into Bloom
In the next couple of weeks, hundreds of acres will be blooming on Holland's farmlands, changing the countryside into a carpet of vibrant colors. Unfortunately, the farmers take the flower off of the tulip as soon as it starts blooming.
Challenge Question #17:
"Why do you suppose Dutch farmers do this? Why remove the blooms!?"
(To respond to
this question, please follow the instructions below.)
A Hootenanny in Anchorage!
Mike Sterling and his 6th Graders at Sand Lake Elementary in Anchorage are waiting patiently for their tulips to emerge, but this doesn't mean they're missing out on signs of spring! Here's what they had to say about spring in south central Alaska:
Dear Journey North,
Man! Have we got signs of spring!
The male robin in the tree outside my bedroom window is one. He's singing his heart out, staking his claim, and falling on deaf ears, too-because there aren't many robins sympathetic to his come hither tune up here yet.
I watched and heard a great great horned owl mating celebration the other morning. They were playing their hootenanny above the creek. Spectacular!
The pussywillows have bloomed. That's a great harbinger. Geese, ducks, and gulls are scurrying across the sky daily. They're honking, quacking, and mewing to beat the band. It's music to our ears after a quiet winter.
The snow down in town is largely gone. Up here in the foothills there are greater amounts, and the mountains are spring-skiable. In fact, after a long, low-snow winter we are worried about the danger of wildfire. Should the period between now and green-up in June be dry, the fire season will be a terrifying one due to the generally arid winter experienced in South-central Alaska.
The teachers at school say when I start riding my bike in they consider it a sign of spring. Well, that happened four weeks ago.
Signs of spring? Yee-haw!
Mike Sterling
Anchorage, AK
With all these other signs of spring those tulips MUST be about ready to show themselves!
Challenge Question #18:
"When do YOU predict the tulips will emerge at Sand Lake Elementary, Anchorage, AK this year? (Hint: Last year it happened on May 7.)?"
(To respond to
this question, please follow the instructions below.)
Six Year's Worth of Data
A Journey North gardener in Minnesota has planted her tulips in the same place every year for the past six years. Maybe some of you have also been able to collect tulip data for a number of years. This is a great opportunity to practice some analysis of the emerging and blooming data you have collected! Study the following emerging dates for these tulips.
|
Year |
Date Tulips Emerged |
|
2001 |
April 7 |
|
2000 |
March 22 |
|
1999 |
April 1 |
|
1998 |
March 25 |
|
1997 |
April 5 |
|
1996 |
April 16 |
Make some generalizations from just looking at the numbers. Compare these dates
to the dates your tulip gardens emerge. What do these dates tell you about the climate
of Minnesota? Is it a colder or warmer climate than yours? Now, see if you can learn
something from the dates themselves. Can you find the mean date that tulips emerged
in this garden over the past six years? (Reminder- you can refer to the Teacher's
Tip Calculating the Mean
.) Make a graph of the dates and examine the results. What were some of the factors
that contributed to the dates that they emerged? Pull out your tulip garden data
from past years and look at the trends in your own schoolyard.
Looking Around at Leaf-Out!
Third Graders at JCC Elementary School in Salt Lake City, UT are watching for signs of springtime. Here is what they shared when they reported tulips blooming in their garden:
"April 4, 2001. It was a close race between leaf-out and the first tulip blooming. We were keeping track of the aspen trees on our school ground which are close to our tulip test garden. The leaves had emerged but were still quite small when the first tulip turned red. The leaves reached the size of a quarter at the same time our first tulip opened."
A Wet and Snowy Winter For Some!
Neighborhood Schoolhouse in Brattleboro, VT reports in on April 10: "Finally, the several feet of snow on top of our garden has mostly melted and we trekked down to see if we could see any tulips. The garden was over-saturated with water and it looked like a muddy swamp. However, upon careful observation we noticed our tulips peeking up through several inches of water. They are between 3 and 3 1/2 inches high so they obviously emerged before this point but we couldn't see them because of the snow.
And from our gardening friends in the United Kingdom, Croydon reported in on April 3: "Our Tulips have started to bloom this week. nearly half of those we planted have either been eaten, or more likely rotted in the ground. We have had the wettest winter in Britain since records began in the 1750's. Many gardens have been under water for many weeks. The tulips have grown where it has been dryer."
What is a bud? Discussion of Challenge Question #15
"What is a bud? Why is it so important to the growth of the flower?"
Mrs. Dempsey's Class, at Charlotte Dunning School in Framingham, MA put the bud into the perspective of a plant's growth sequence. They said "·a bud is one step that comes before a flower and after a seed. A folded up flower blossom."
Sounds like they put some thought into their answer! The flower bud is truly a miniature, folded up flower blossom. Try dissecting a tulip bulb to look at the bud. You will find it placed protectively inside thickened leaves of the bulb for protection from the coldest weather conditions.
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 #17 (or #18).
3. In the body of the message, answer ONE of the questions above.
The Next Tulip Garden Update Will be Posted on May 4, 2001.
Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
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