Date: 04/07/2010

Number: 1

Unfortunately, this observational report is not as scientific as I would like it to be. Our garden is not on school grounds. It is in a local cemetery, so we don't get to see it every day. We were also on spring break from March 27 through April 7 and only checked once on the garden and there were no flowers yet. That was on April 1st.

When I returned to school on April 7, some tulips that we planted in a microclimate next to the school building were in full bloom, so that got me wondering how our tulips at the cemetery were doing. It wasn't until April 10 that I actually got over there and saw all of them in full bloom.

So I'm guessing (and I know that it is not scientific) that the tulips bloomed somewhere between April 1 and April 10, and more likely between April 5 and April 10, because they emerged from the ground later than those in the microclimate and I'm supposing that they also bloomed a bit later.

During this time period the weather was both really wet and really wonderful. It rained a ton on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, March 28, 29 and 30. A total of 4.54 inches of rain! Then for a straight week, there was no rain. Just sunshine and summerlike temperatures. 70, 67, 67, 75, 74, 77, and 90 were the highs. On April 8, it went back to a still rather unseasonable 78 degrees and since has been going done to more seasonable temperatures in the high 50's.

I think the bulbs bloomed during the warm period. They probably just loved the big burst of rain and then popped with the summerlike temperatures. I wish I could be more precise on the bloom date, but this is the best I can report. It probably occurred between April 5 and April 10.

Next year, I will make it a point to have students check when we're o

Brooklyn, NY

Latitude: 40.7 Longitude: -74

Observed by: Sharon
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