Garden Flowering Log 2016

TPP has been trying to get his garden flowering log database straightened out (data up to date, removal of those what died, names corrected, duplications eliminated, etc.).  So this late February balmy weather (highs in the 60s F) is a bit too much too soon. But not much you can do, but to trot out to the back of the gardens with the camera and record the first blooms of the 2016 gardening season, to make yourself a margarita, and to write a blog about it. From a distanced these rusty red flowers cloaking this witch hazel shrub ('Diane') are not all that gaudy, but up close they are quite nice. A moment after this image was taken a pollinator (actually 2) showed up, a syrphid fly with the yellow & black bee/hornet mimicking abdomen and a regular house fly of some sort. Some other flowering may follow shortly: a green bear paw hellebore, snowdrops, squill, Guess someone should get that danged flowering log done, or drink another margarita. The voting will be brief.

The 100th flowering plant Index - 2010-2013

TPP's 1st day of flowering log provides some interesting data. On May 5th, the 100th different plant in our gardens flowered. This is considerably later than a typical year, if such a thing exists.  In 2010 the 100th flowering event was reached on April 21st, and in 2011 it came on April 27th.  So 2013 is 8 to 16 days behind.  However last year was just much abnormal. The 100th flowering event took place on March 25th!  It was ridiculous!  The 100th flowering event sort of evens things out by taking into account a large number of plants and their reactions to weather events.  In general this date is reached in late April, but obviously a great deal of variation occurs with spring weather events.  Now if something like the melting of the Arctic ice cap alters the pattern of the jet stream, then things may get earlier or later, depending.  Too often we tend to say things, like, it's a late spring, or an early spring, but only when you have some data do you have some real information and the ability to compare.  Only wish our flowering log contained several more years of data.

Garden Flowering Log – May

May is a month of transition here in the upper Midwest, a change from spring flowering to summer flowering, and summer has certainly come early this year. Still some plants have been a big surprise. The Calycanthus-Sinocalycanthus featured a few weeks ago began flowering on the 1st of May, and it’s still in flower, and even though still a quite small shrub (~4’) the large, white flowers have provided an interesting and significant display. Although rather unusual around here, our gardens have 4 large American fringe trees that display a great purple haze high above; only wish we knew from whence they came so many years ago.

Through April 130 plants had flowered in our gardens. May contributed another 66 bringing the total to 196, just shy of 200. Here’s the flowering log for May:
May 1 – Calycanthus x Sinocalycanthus, tall pinks
May 2 – beautybush, coral bells, yellow daylily, meadow rues, yellow Trillium
May 3 – Rugosa Rose, American smoke tree
May 4 – American fringe tree
May 5 - Tuliptree
May 6 – Prairie stars (Amsonia), Robin Hill Azaleas, Canadian anemone, Siberian Iris, Virginia waterleaf, early bearded Iris, rock garden pinks, sedums, candy tuft, red raspberry, golden chain tree, blue fescue
May 8 – bastard balm
May 11 – Calla lily
May 12 – spiderwort, goat’s beard (Aruncus), blue flax, Chinese fringe tree, viburnums, creeping thyme, knock-out rose
May 13 – herbaceous peony
May 15 – yellow flag Iris, bush clematis, yellow false indigo
May 17 – sage
May 18 – white Deutzia, large flowered beard tongue, chives
May 19 – sweet bay Magnolia
May 20 – purple Deutzia
May 21 – Kousa dogwood
May 22 – Catawba Rhododendrons, gray dogwood, gout wort, pale spiderwort
May 23 – red spirea, peach-leafed bellflower
May 24 – Persian cornflower, Medallion rose, privet, gold-flame honeysuckle, clematis
May 25 – Asiatic lily, catalpa tree, small-flowered beard tongue, thin-leafed heal-all, Takesimana bellflower, snowflake Hydrangea
May 26 - Missouri evening primrose, yellow loosestrife
May 27 – sweet spire
May 30 – sundrops evening primrose, standard thymes

Garden flowering log: Report for March 2010

Mar 1: witchhazel “Diane”
Mar 9: witchhazel “Arnold’s Promise”, early crocus, snowdrops
Mar 14: late crocus, filbert
Mar 18: hellebores (hybrids & H. niger)
Mar 22: squill (thousands and thousands of them)
Mar 23: early daffodils, dwarf & standard; lungwort
Mar 28: Japanese pachysandra, spicebush
Mar 29: cornelian cherry (Cornus mas)
Mar 30: dwarf forsythia (Abeliophyllum)
Mar 31: Forsythia, periwinkle, tulip ‘kaufmanniana”
Not too bad for March, but the first 5 days of April have already equaled the total for all of March, so perhaps keeping a flowering log could get a bit out of hand, but you have to wander around your garden with a cocktail anyways, so you might as well take note of what’s in flower. So stay posted and in just 25 more days, we'll see what flowered in the Phactor's garden during April.

Now is the time ....

It's spring here in Lincolnland and this is the time for action.
First, now is the time to begin a flowering log for your garden to keep track of what and when everything flowers. Such a log will show you when and where you have flowering "gaps" and the beginning of data that can be useful for showing changes in the flowering season. Such data kept for over a century (and this is why you should start as soon as possible) have shown significantly earlier flowering in the northeastern USA, a trend consistent with a warming climate. The Phactor has never done this himself formally, and it will be a challenge what with several hundred flowering plant species to keep track of (150+ trees and shrubs & who knows how many perennials).
Second, now is the time to begin ignoring your lawn. This can never begin too early. Avoid the temptation to buy all that high nitrogen lawn fertilizer all the stores have in stock. If you must spread something to keep the neighbors from staring, spread milky spore to provide a biological control of Japanese beetle and other lawn grubs. At most sow some seed on bare spots. If you start your lawn out early on a fertilizer diet it will expect water and nutrients all summer long, and rather than having your lawn go dormant in the heat of summer, as it should, you will be out there mowing, harvesting all that inedible biomass, a wretched excess caused by your own exuberance and misplaced energy. Think of the money you will save and buy yourself some new plants so the garden shops don't go under. Remember, a monoculture of grass just is not very interesting, not sophisticated aesthetically, and not ecologically stable.