Often when we post a picture of an established plant, bush or tree that has just flowered in our garden, we also provide another morsel of information. We establish a baseline or starting point for comparisons. As most of us already know, the area we live in fits into a larger jigsaw puzzle. Zigzagging across the countryside the botanical world defines itself in hardness zones. Many variables contribute to the established zones and as most of us have experienced, the zones are shifting, generally in a northward direction. One of the interesting aspects in establishing a baseline is that it need not stop at the border of a country or even an ocean. The information is relative to the two or more gardens that provided the observations. So when Cheryl mentioned late last spring that one of her daylily cultivars, Catherine Woodbury, had bloomed, it got me thinking. I knew my own daylily was weeks away from blooming so I started counting the days. Mind you there are many variables contributing to the difference between zone 6a in Massachusetts and zone 8b in South Liberty County Texas but the observation is relative to the two gardens. It is however, an interesting one. With just a hint of real information to make it useful. Because it was the same flower variety, the comparable information established a baseline of 32 days. Many more baselines are out there and as we note the blooming of established plants, bushes and trees in our area we can see commonalities between our gardens. Who would think that you could establish a link between your garden and another hundreds or perhaps thousands of miles away with a real scientific observation. We can and we do, we just have to think of that observation or posted picture in a different light. Your observations this spring, summer and fall would be welcome. Questions too are always welcome. Jerry
I can only speak for the British Isles Jerry. Here we can actually track spring from the far south to the very north of the country. When the first daffodil blooms down in at The Lizard then we know, here in West Lothian, that ours will begin to appear approx three weeks later. You can add another week to that before the first flowers appear on the Shetland isles.
Approximates are good, they tell us when to look. Dates are better as, over time, i.e. short term(weeks), long term(years), they provide a more accurate picture of change. Dates allow the participants to construct a baseline and serve as a reference between their gardens. The 'heads up' of a subject flower blooming in one location has a participant on the watch for a flower to bloom in their garden. While it sounds convoluted, in its simplest form it involves only two dates. The example that initiated the subject baseline has June 10th as the beginning and July 12th the end, hence, 32 days. This baseline between Cheryl's garden and mine provides us with a reference for other flowers and provides other people a window into the differences between the two hardness zones as well as a way to monitor the movement of the zones. Jerry
Interesting post Jerry. I am wondering if, with global warming, the days between your respective day lily bloom time will remain constant as the 2 plants begin to bloom earlier. We shall see....
Quite an interesting post, Jerry. You bring up a good possibility. This is a very cool reason to be involved in a global gardening community.
