Bloom Time Tracking: Why This Is Your Primary Concern As A Climate Crisis Gardener
Bloom times are changing . . . here's what you need to know
Not all plants are grown for their flowers, or the seeds, nuts and fruits that come after blooming. However, tracking changes in bloom times can be a powerful tool for understanding climate change impacts right in your own backyard or surrounding area.
Let’s take a look at the key reasons why tracking bloom times can improve your ability to garden and grow your own food.
1. Plants Can Track Temperatures Better Than You
One of the most fundamental risks for plant survival is getting the timing of spring emergence “right”. Start growing too soon and you risk frost damage or death if you are a tender new shoot. Start growing too late and you might not complete your necessary growth and reproductive cycle for the year.
As humans, we’ve created lots of complex math (e.g. day degree models) that measure the accumulated heat units based on local temperatures and determine when plants should emerge, when it should be “safe” to seed or transplant tender vegetation, and how determine if there is enough growing season to realize a harvest. The challenge is that climate change is re-writing what we consider to be “normal” patterns. That means that these complex models may become less reliable over time.
What’s the solution? Use indicator plants instead.
When you start recording the first blooms of plants in your area, and the sequence of flowering moving into summer, you will have your own local database of seasonal variation and climate-based shifts to work from. This beats the complexity of tracking temperatures and using models any day.
Your local plants measure temperature and light better than any model
2. Your bloom time data is more reliable than generalized planting tables
Every spring I see all kinds of planting guides and schedules shared and reshared on the internet. The intent is good. They all aim to save gardeners from the stress and frustration of starting plants too soon. The problem is very few of them are grounded in real data, instead relying on generalizations like don’t plant out tomatoes (heat-loving plants) before May 15th. Or worse, the recommendations being shared are for an entirely different region and ecosystem and the well-meaning followers are in for a sad surprise applying the information.
When you track the blooming times of plants in your area, you will come recognize the patterns and the anomalies faster. As the cost of seeds and starts continues to rise, being the local plant whisperer of safe planting times can pay off in terms of less wasted effort and better harvests.
Your local bloom times are better than planting tables
3. Your memory isn’t as good as you think it is!
You may pride yourself on having a great memory, but let’s face it. None of us are getting any younger. How many times have you heard folks declare that this late (or early) spring is like none other before, only to check the weather history and see the record was actually set previous to this? [Note that if you live in Canada the government website: https://www.weather.gc.ca provides access to daily weather forecasts by city, with averages and extremes displayed as well.]
Recording the date and sequence of blooming plants in your area provides an easy way to win the argument of how similar or strange this spring really is.
A simple bloom time tracking calendar or system is all you need
4. Get a front row seat to micro-climate shifts and plant adaptation
Once upon a time our very lives depended on our ability to track and read our environment for clues regarding our food supply. Today few people have these skills. Bloom time tracking can help unleash your observation skills and reunite you with the natural world. Believe me, the first time you pick up an anomaly for your area, you are hooked!
So far for me, unusual blooming events have included recording the summer re-blooming of plants that formerly only bloomed in the spring; the first year blooming of a biennial plant, and dandelions blooming in my pasture in December (which should be the dead of winter here). It is these types of observations that have made me so passionate about encouraging everyone to record and share the blooming patterns for their area. Not only will it make you a better gardener, but it is also shedding light on what we might expect as the climate crisis deepens.
Bloom time tracking is citizen science at its best!
Ready for the next step?
There has never been a better time to start growing your own food, and that makes now the perfect time to start bloom time tracking. Use a calendar, notebook or spreadsheet and start recording when you see the first blooms of various plants in your backyard, local area or favorite park.
Or use the link below to jump over to my Food Abundance Revolution website and download a free copy of my Bloom Time Tracker Workbook that includes instructions and templates for getting started.
Share what you see
Let me know in the comments what the first plant to bloom in your area is or which plant is the most reliable indicator for spring gardening readiness.
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