Date: 03/09/2011

Number: 1

At last!

In February our class went on a field trip to Washington Bulb Company in Mount Vernon, WA. It was a great trip! As we progressed on our tour we experienced all of the seasons...from the dead cold of winter in a huge walk-in cooler, to eventually experiencing summer in a balmy greenhouse. The greenhouses spanned for 15 acres! We saw not only tulips, but daffodils and lilies. Since then we have all been longing for spring!

Finally, one tulip has emerged. We planted our tulips in various ways to see how the alterations would affect their emergence and growth (different depths, big vs. small, with bone meal vs. without bone meal, etc). We were expecting the tulip we planted at 3 inches to emerge first, but instead the one we planted at a depth of 7 inches was first.

We have also been monitoring the soil temperatures. The highest soil temperature we had recorded prior to observing a tulip was 42 degrees Fahrenheit. On our observation date, the soil temperature was 47.5 degrees Fahrenheit, with an air temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Spring at last, or at least we hope!

Shaw Island School

Shaw Island, WA

Latitude: 48.6 Longitude: -123

Observed by: Diane
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