Submit your spring observations!
We're still waiting for some reports from those who planted tulips last fall. If you know when your tulips first emerged or bloomed and haven't yet reported your observations, it's not too late!
Except for some late stragglers, most reports of blooming tulips came by the end of April across the United States, although we’re still waiting for some reports from places where gardens were planted last year!
If you planted a tulip test garden last fall, you can still submit your reports of when your tulips emerged and bloomed by clicking here, selecting “tulips” and entering the date when your tulips emerged or bloomed.
There, you can submit a photo if you have one, as well as any comments about your planting. The more details the better! After planting on October 25, 2023, Josh in Afton, Minnesota reported back on April 22 with a photo of a single blooming tulip:
“Very windy day today! (Can you tell in the photo?) A single flower bloomed between 8:00 a.m. and 9:40 a.m. this morning.
This is the ex-urban site for the 18 Saint Paul Public Schools cohort investigating the Urban Heat Island Effect. We planted 1,000 tulips in the urban schools of Saint Paul, and compared their timing with those at Belwin, just 15 miles outside of the city.
The Average EMERGING date for the 17 urban schools was March 2, or March 5 if we remove the two schools planting next to south-facing walls. Belwin's emerging date was March 12 (7 to 10 days later).”
As of this writing the Average bloom date for the urban schools is April 11. Belwin tulips bloomed 11 days later than the urban tulips.”
One day later, on April 23, Sarah in Saint Paul posted a photo of numerous tulips starting to bloom, writing, “The tulips face west and they are shaded by the building.”
On April 25, Kelly in St. Paul wrote, "During science, Ms. Norby's class discovered the one blooming tulip in our test garden today. We are soooo excited and curious why Belwin's tulips bloomed before ours did."
Late bloomers
As for the late bloomers, we got a few reports of blooming tulips in the first few weeks of May.
Joan in Dunrobin, Ontario reported 12 tulips on May 8, writing, “They have taken a long time to open up but are finally blooming.”
Marlene in West Davenport, New York reported planting three bulbs, with one blooming in West Davenport, New York on May 4.
Get involved next year
If you didn't participate in Journey North's tulip test garden project by planting tulips last fall, there's always this year! For a step-by-step guide to get involved, click here.
