Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--(March 2-4, 2012)

Sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the new plants coming into bloom in the garden. Today saw the first bud open on the pink species tulip (Tulipa bakeri) called "Lilac Wonder." The Santa Rosa plum I planted a couple of years ago as a pollinator for our pluots is now in full bloom. The first flower opened on March 1. The Rhododendron "Noyo Dream" is also in full bloom. The first flower opened on March 2.

The first Lilac Wonder tulip bloomed on March 15 in 2011, on February 24 in 2010, and on March 5 in 2009, so this seems a fairly typical date--about in the middle of the range. The plant has calculated years of 356 days, 384 days, and 355 days so far, which average to exactly 365 days.

The Santa Rosa plum bloomed on February 23 in 2010 and on February 16 in 2011, so March 1 seems comparatively late. So far, the tree has calculated years of  358 days and 379 days, which average to 368.5 days, still somewhat long, but there's not enough data yet for that to be very meaningful.

The Rhododendron "Noyo Dream" bloomed on February 25 in 2009, on February 7 in 2010, and on February 2 in 2011, so this this seems quite late this year. So far, the plant has calculated years of 347 days,  360 days, and 393 days. Despite the odd lengths, these three average to just under 167 days, or close to an actual year.