What’s Blooming in Your Yard – A Garden Phenology

Break out the camera, notebook or garden journal and start recording the beautiful blooms in your garden.  It‘s a fun family activity that can help you increase your garden’s beauty and manage garden pests.

Studying and recording the timing of natural events like plant bloom, animal hibernation and reproduction is called phenology – literally “the science of appearance”.  Scientists have long used this method to track seasonal and climatic changes.

Gardeners can track bloom time to help improve their garden’s beauty.  Use phenology to identify and fill voids in your garden’s floral display.

Phenology can also help in managing pests in a more eco-friendly way.  Since insects, are dependent on temperature, just like plants, the appearance of certain flowers coincide with the timing to manage problem pests.  For example, the best time to control pine needle scale is when the Vanhoutte spirea and horsechestnut trees are in bloom. 

A bit more information: Check out Project BudBurst to join a network of individuals interested in tracking leafing, flowering, and fruiting of plants.  The information you and others gather will help scientists track and better understand changes in our environment.  This project was started in 2007 and involves partners and sponsors from Universities, botanical gardens, environmental, educational and other related groups

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Use Nature’s Cycles as Your Gardening Guide