Garden Flowering Log - 2011

Data collection on the 2011 flowering of perennials in the Phactors garden is complete. There were losses and additions, a few things died or failed to flower, some plants flowered for the first time, so the total is still somewhat in question and will require some more analysis as it appears a couple of flowering plants were missed in 2010. However the most interesting finding so far is that the average flowering date for 2011 was 9 days later than for 2010. Your first reaction is why were they so late? But perhaps you should ask why was 2010 so early? Two years of data does not generate a trend. 2011 did have a cold wet spring, but April flowering only differed from 2010 by an insignificant 0.75 days. While August and September were hot and dry, June and July were reasonably nice, but the late summer flowering dates averaged 11 and 12 days later than the year before. Clearly more data is needed. It gives you something to look forward to that first data point of spring!