Spring indicator plants
My mom sent me an email
that tickled my fancy a week or two ago:
She
got interested in the idea of dandelions as an indicator of the
progression of spring, and stumbled across a Rodale pamphlet with a
chapter on "Using phenology to make planting decisions". The text
suggested paying attention to honeysuckle and lilacs "because of their
wide adaptability to different geographical areas, and their
reliability in making consistent responses to varying weather
conditons".
By noticing when the
indicator plants' leaves and flowers emerge, you can get an idea about
when to plant certain crops. For example, the Rodale pamphlet
recommended planting cool season crops (like peas) when lilac shows its
first leaves and waiting to plant warm season crops (like tomatoes)
until the lilacs are in bloom. Of course, oak
leaves are another classic indicator plant.
I loved Mom's idea of
testing indicator plants against soil temperature. What's your
most dependable indicator plant? Have you noticed whether it
responds to day length, air temperature, or soil temperature?
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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