Spring is Here!

Spring's arrival and emerging and blooming tulips are spreading joy across North America.

Red tulips blooming from ground — Photo: Susan in New Oxford, PA (03/21/2023)

Tulip Test Gardens

All across the continent, educators participate each year with Journey North’s Tulip Test Garden projects as they and their students learn about gardens, planting experiments, tulips, daylight, seasonal changes, and climate.

Thanks to contributions from the Friends of the Arboretum, Journey North now has a garden sign for you to print and use in your Tulip Test Garden. We hope these signs help to promote the study of seasonal change at your schools and in your communities.

Journey North observer and long-time educator Bob Coulter, Director of the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center, has been a part of the Journey North Tulip Test Garden project for decades and contributed a reflection of his work and the learning that goes along with this project. Bob shares with us in his article, “At a basic level, I found that working with teachers and students on their garden site selection sparked great thinking about microhabitats around the schoolyard and the possible impact variations in temperature and moisture levels might have on their tulips’ growth.

Emerging Tulips

More and more Journey North gardens are reporting emerging tulips. Where will tulips emerge next week? Explore maps from previous years to compare data and make a prediction.

Perry in St. Paul, MN: “Expo Elementary's tulips emerged and were visible under melting snow. . . ” (03/22/2023)

Blooming Tulips

Reports of blooming tulips are still largely concentrated in the lower latitudes of the United States.

Donna in Louisville, KY: “Our tulips bloomed and we are so excited! We learned about the life cycle of the tulip. We learned that the soil temperature needs to warm up for the tulips to grow.” (03/17/2023)

Mary in Oklahoma City, OK: “Out of 50 tulips planted in downtown OKC, 46 emerged and the first one bloomed on Tuesday, March 21st.” (03/21/2023)