Journey North International Plant Study Spring 2008

Tulip Test Gardens

Update: March 20, 2008

Today's Report Includes:

Data, Maps, and Highlights >>
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Think: Sun and Earth and Seasonal Change >>
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Explore: It's Snowing on My Tulips! >>
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Links: This Week's Tulip Garden Resources >>

Tulips (and hummingbirds) in Alaska!?

Data, Maps, and Highlights: YIPPEE! Spring is really on it's way!

Today, March 20, is the Spring Equinox. We celebrate the signs around us that signal change from winter into spring. Today the earth's axis is not tipped toward or away from the sun. The length of the day and night are about 12 hours everywhere on Earth. Each passing day will bring more light until the Summer Solstice. How will this change affect your garden and other plants in your neighborhood?

"The weather today is warm (+4C) and it is sunny with a bit of a breeze. Sap is running, and a flock of starlings was feeding on the gravel roadside. Spring is in the air - but there's still over 45 cm of snow on the ground in the sugar bush." Madoc, ON 03/16/08

"The snow that covered our tulip garden has finally melted. We are happy to report that there has been some action, even under the piles of snow. Our tulips have emerged! YIPPEE!! Spring is really on it's way! What a nice sight after such a long and snowy winter." Brookline, NH 03/17/08

	This Week's Map >> Data (for your map) >> Handout: Making Sense of Tulip Garden Maps >>
This Week's Map >>		This Week's Map Question Handout >>

Think: Sun and Earth and Seasonal Change

John Muir, famous conservationist, writer and founder of the Sierra Club has been credited for saying,

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature he finds it attached to the rest of the world."

Whether we're tracking spring through daylength recording, the emergence of a plant or the flight of a hummingbird we can't help but see change all around.

This week the first emerged tulip garden was reported in Thorne Bay, Alaska (55.8 N latitude). Also reported this week in Alaska was the first sighting of a Rufous hummingbird in Gustavus (58.8 N).

Why are these far northern locations experiencing spring change earlier than many of the garden sites further south?
Think about it, and then write your answer in your Tulip Journal.

Explore: It's Snowing on My Tulips!

It's Snowing on My Tulips! Will they die?

Oh no! What happens to tulip plants in freezing weather? Spring weather is hard to predict! Weather conditions become unstable and can bring freezing temperatures after your tulips are emerged.
Read all about these hardy little plants. Then explain to others how the tulip plant is specially designed to survive weather surprises.

Risky Weather: Will Spring Tulips Survive? >>

What might happen? >>

Resources: This Week's Tulip Garden Resources

Record Keeping: Collecting Data Season After Season >>
Survey: How Do You Define Spring >>
Helpful Weather Links: Climate Weather and Seasons >>
Tulip Garden Journals (click-and-print) >>

More Journey North Lessons and Teaching Ideas!

The Next Tulip Garden Update Will Be Posted on March 27, 2008