Tulip Test Gardens
Update: April 8, 2010   
Please report:

It was an astonishing week for the tulip garden. As rain fell and temperatures soared for much of the continent there was plenty of action in the tulip garden. Visit a couple of gardens in bloom this week. Get out into the excitement of spring and discover what is happening. Make a phenology record for this time of bloom in the tulip garden.

Today's Report Includes:

Image of the Week



Wow! What a Gardening Experience!
(Pen pals, and Skype partners, too.)

Check this one out!
Maps, Questions, and Highlights

Highlights:
Spring has arrived at astonishing speed this past week! Thirty-seven gardeners reported their tulip gardens in full bloom. Heavy, record rains drenched the East Coast, then the sun came out to shine on bright red tulip beds. In Michigan, long time Journey North teacher Teri Bickmore reported on April 5, "This is by far the earliest bloom date we have had in 7 years of participating in the tulip study. We usually expect our tulips to bloom around April 21st."

Why the explosion of bloom?
The temperature map gives us the biggest clue.

"We’ve been on spring break. Today almost every red emperor tulip has bloomed. There is red everywhere! We think they bloomed so quickly due to all the warm weather we had during spring break. The temperature has been higher than normal for this time of year and temperature records have even been set!" -Toccoa, Georgia

Big departures from the normal spring temperatures brought red to the map AND the tulip garden, too!

The first Canadian garden has bloomed in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Nolan reports on April 6, " The tulips in our garden are in bloom! The weather has been hot and sunny."

Some students' comments could win a prize for describing their tulips' attributes. Students in Minnesota wrote, "One of the tulip's leaves is covering another tulip and the covered tulip is much shorter than the rest of our bulbs. There are black and yellow circles inside the blossoms, and we can see the pollen."

Try This! Attributes
Look carefully at these emerging tulips. (click image) Make notes about all the details you see. Then write a paragraph including many attributes that describe the tulips.
Focus: Phenology and Blooming Tulips

Spring peepers, yellow jackets, ballooning spiders and leaf-out; these are some of the natural phenomena students are noticing this week. On the day their tulip bloomed, one class in Midland, Michigan, took a phenology walk around their neighborhood. They recorded what they saw.What is phenology?

Phenology is the study of the relationship between climate and natural phenomena (like the flowering of plants or the migration of birds).

Find the small and large signs of spring in your special locale. Celebrate the spring day with a phenology hike.

What will you see on the day your tulips bloom?


Try creating a phenology book of your own - like this one!
Celebrate: Spring Tulip Festival

Every year Albany, New York is BIG on tulips! For 9 years students in Albany have planted tulips for Journey North AND celebrated their town's Dutch heritage with a tulip festival. This past fall 15 third grade classes planted gardens around town. The first one bloomed last week.
Ask the Expert Open Until Friday

Special thanks to Bud Markhart for sharing his time and expertise to answer your questions! You still have time to prepare and submit your questions to Bud. Study this poster for inspiration.

Ask the Expert Still Open!
March 26 - April 9, 2010.
Related Journey North Lessons and Links
More Journey North Lessons and Teaching Ideas!
The Next Tulip Garden Update Will Be Posted on April 15, 2010.

© 1997 – 2019 Journey North. All rights reserved.