Spring Bulbs for Schools

Investigation results 2006-2012

Since October 2005, school scientists across Wales have been keeping weather records and noting when their flowers open, as part of a long-term study looking at the effects of temperature on spring bulbs.

The investigation...

This year, we are delighted to be teaming up with the Edina Trust who are funding the pots and bulbs and extending the range of the project to England and Scotland!

72 schools took part this year!

They posted their results on the web.

Average flowering dates 2008-2009 Weather records 2008-2009

The long term study…

Our climate is changing and so are our seasons. Over the next 10-20 years (and hopefully more) we want school scientists to show how climate change is affecting flowering times in spring bulbs.

In the short term there is plenty for schools to study.

Huge thanks!

Professor Plant would like to thank all of the school scientists that have sent in records this year!

You are all Super Scientists!

• Radnor Primary• Brynhyfryd Junior School• Bishop Childs CIW Primary School• Eyton Church in Wales Primary School• Ysgol Cynfran• Ysgol Bodfari

• Each to receive Super Scientist Certificates

Schools to be awarded with certificates:

Schools with special recognition:

• Gordon Primary School• Laugharne VCP School• Milford Haven Junior school• Ysgol Iau Hen Golwyn• Oakfield Primary school• Windsor Clive Primary

Prizes: certificates, herbs and salad seeds.

Highly commended schools: 

Prizes: Certificates, sunflower seeds, salad seeds & herbs.

•Channelkirk Primary•Coleg Powys•Ysgol Y Ffridd•Ysgol Capelulo•Lakeside Primary•Maesglas Primary School•Ysgol Clocaenog•Ysgol Bro Ciwmeirch

•Ysgol Porth Y Felin•Glyncollen Primary School•Ysgol Pant Y Rhedyn•Howell's School Llandaff•Williamstown Primary school•Ysgol Tal Y Bont•Morfa Rhianedd•Ysgol Deganwy

Runner's up: • Christchurch CP School• Saint Roberts Roman Catholic Primary School• Sherwood Primary School• St. Joseph's R C Primary (Penarth)• Stanford in the Vale CE Primary School• Woodplumpton St Annes C of E Primary• Ysgol Nant Y Coed

Prizes: £40 Amazon voucher to spend on gardening equipment.

Winners 2012

Westwood CP School in Wales Prize: Day trip to the National Slate Museum in Llanberis.

Earlston Primary School in Scotland. Prize: Day trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.

Fulwood and Cadley School in England. Prize: Day trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

Summary 2005-2012

• Here is a very brief summary of the results that we have observed since 2005.

• You can download the results to study them for yourself at www.museumwales.ac.uk/scan/bulbs

UK & Welsh data

• This year we welcomed schools from England and Scotland to take part in the investigation!

• For the 1st time we have data from across the UK.

• I have produced two sets of data, one for Wales 2005-2012 and another for the UK which compares results between different countries.

UK Results Summary

Which country was the warmest / coldest?

Tymheredd cymedrig / Average temperatures 2012

Cymru / Wales Lloegr / England

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Blwyddyn / Year

Tym

eher

edd

/ Tem

pera

ture

(C)

Which country had the most / least sunshine?

Oriau o haul cymedrig / Average hours of sunshine 2012

05

101520253035404550556065707580859095

Blwyddyn / Year

Oria

u /H

ours

Which country had the most / least rain?

Glawiad cymedrig / Average rainfall 2012

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Blwyddyn / Year

Gla

wia

d cy

med

rig

A

vera

ge ra

infa

ll (m

m)

Flowers will open earliest in areas where it is both warm and sunny.

Especially during the month of February.

As a result the flowers opened much earlier in England this year.

Dyddiad blodeuo'r Gwanwyn 2012Spring flowering dates 2012

02/03

03/03

04/03

05/03

06/03

07/03

08/03

09/03

Country

Dyd

diad

/ D

ate

Download the results yourself to…

Visit www.museumwales.ac.uk/scan/bulbs

•Make graphs & frequency charts or calculate the mean.

•See if the flowers opened late in schools that recorded cold weather

•See how temperature, sunshine and rainfall affect the average flowering dates.

•Look for trends between different locations.

Welsh Results Summary

Our records show that spring 2012 was warmer than in previous years.

From November to January it was very warm but then February turned cold and March was exceptionally warm.

Tymheredd cymedrig / Average temperature °C 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Tach / Nov 6 7.5 7.4 6.9 8 4.7 9.1

Rhag / Dec 4.2 6 4.9 3.5 3 -0.4 6

Ion / Jan 4 6.5 6.1 2.9 1.2 3.2 5.5

Chwef / Feb 3.6 5 5 3.9 2.4 6 4

Mawrth / March 4.6 6.4 5.6 6.2 5.1 6 7.9

Misoedd i gyd / All months 4.48 6.28 5.80 4.68 3.94 3.90 6.50

Tymheredd Y Gwanwyn / Spring temperatures 2006 - 2012

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Tach / Nov Rhag / Dec Ion / Jan Chw / Feb Maw/ Mar

Mis / Month

Rhad

d / D

egre

es(C

) 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Since we began recording, temperatures generally became colder but 2012 is the warmest yet.

Tymheredd cymedrig y gwanwyn 2006-2012 Average spring temperatures 2006 - 2012

2006

20072008

2009

2010 2011

2012

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Blwyddyn / Year

Tym

eher

edd

/ Tem

pera

ture

(C)

Hours of sunshine has varied greatly over the years, but 2012 had the least amount of sunshine.

Oriau o haul cymedrig y gwanwyn 2006-2012Average hours of spring sunshine 2006 - 2012

2006

2007

2008

20092010

2011

2012

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

84

Blwyddyn / Year

Oria

u /H

ours

As a result, the average flowering date was quite late compared to previous years.

Dyddiad blodeuo'r Gwanwyn 2006-2011Spring flowering dates 2006-2011

19/03/200606/03/200714/02/2008

07/03/2009

24/03/2010

7/3/2011 7/3/2012

01/02

06/02

11/02

16/02

21/02

26/02

03/03

08/03

13/03

18/03

Blwyddyn / Year

Dyd

diad

/ D

ate

Glawiad cymedrig y gwanwyn 2006-2012Average rainfall 2006 - 2012

2006

2007 2008

2009

2010

20112012

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Blwyddyn / Year

Gla

wia

d cy

med

rig

A

vera

ge ra

infa

ll (m

m)

Rainfall was also very low this year.

Welsh results table 2005-2012

Blwyddyn Dyddiad blodeuo'r crocws

Dyddiad blodeuo'r cenin Pedr

Tymheredd

(ºC)

Oriau o haul

Glawiad cymedrig

Year Crocus flowering date

Daffodil flowering date

Temp (ºC) Hours of sunshine

Average rainfall (mm)

2012 05/03/2011 10/03/2011 6.5 83 832011 03/03/2011 12/03/2011 3.9 81 1002010 06/03/2011 24/03/2011 3.94 77 1512009 13/03/2011 07/03/2011 4.68 78 972008 16/02/2011 14/02/2011 5.8 83 1582007 16/02/2011 06/03/2011 6.28 79 1652006 25/02/2011 19/03/2011 4.48 76 66

How does the weather effect flowering times in the daffodil?

Dyddiad blodeuo cymedrig cenin pedr 2006-2012Average daffodil flowering dates 2006-2012

19/03/2006

06/03/2007

14/02/2008

07/03/2009

24/03/2010

10/3/2012

17/01

27/01

06/02

16/02

26/02

08/03

18/03

28/03

Year

Date12/3/2011

Cymaru blodeuo yn y cenin pedr gyda tymherau cymedrigComparing daffodil flowering with average spring temperatures

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

01/Feb 06/Feb 11/Feb 16/Feb 21/Feb 26/Feb 03/Mar 08/Mar 13/Mar 18/Mar 23/Mar 28/Mar

Dyddiadau blodeuo / Flowering date

Tym

ered

d cy

med

rig y

gw

anw

yn A

vera

ge

sprin

g te

mpe

ratu

re (C

)

The trend shows: As temperatures get lower daffodils flower later – but there are some exceptions.

What years don’t fit the

trend?

Ans: 2007& 2012

Possible explanation: Although the temperature was at it’s highest in 2007 & 2012 the flowers opened quite late. This is likely to be because the hours of sunshine remained low until March that year.

Cymaru blodeuo yn y cenin pedr gyda tymherau cymedrigComparing daffodil flowering with average spring temperatures

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

01/Feb 06/Feb 11/Feb 16/Feb 21/Feb 26/Feb 03/Mar 08/Mar 13/Mar 18/Mar 23/Mar 28/Mar

Dyddiadau blodeuo / Flowering date

Tym

ered

d cy

med

rig y

gw

anw

yn A

vera

ge

sprin

g te

mpe

ratu

re (C

)

Cymaru blodeuo yn y cenin pedr gyda tymherau Comparing daffodil flowering dates with hours of sunshine.

69707172737475767778798081828384

01/Feb 08/Feb 15/Feb 22/Feb 01/Mar 08/Mar 15/Mar 22/Mar 29/Mar

Dyddiad blodeuo / Flowering date

Oria

u o

haul

H

ours

of s

unsh

ine

The trend shows: As the hours of sunshine decrease daffodils open later – but there are some exceptions.

What years don’t fit the

trend?

Ans: 2011 & 2012

Possible explanations: Although there was little sunshine in 2012 the flowers didn’t open as late as 2006 & 2010. This could be because the temperatures was very high.

Cymaru blodeuo yn y cenin pedr gyda tymherau Comparing daffodil flowering dates with hours of sunshine.

69707172737475767778798081828384

01/Feb 08/Feb 15/Feb 22/Feb 01/Mar 08/Mar 15/Mar 22/Mar 29/Mar

Dyddiad blodeuo / Flowering date

Oria

u o

haul

H

ours

of s

unsh

ine

How does the weather effect flowering times in the crocus?

Cymaru blodeuo yn y crocws gyda tymherau cymedrig Comparing crocus flowering with average spring temperatures

2010

2007 & 2008

20062011

2009

2012

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

01/Feb 06/Feb 11/Feb 16/Feb 21/Feb 26/Feb 03/Mar 08/Mar 13/Mar 18/Mar 23/Mar 28/Mar

Dyddiad blodeuo / Flowering date

Tym

here

dd b

lode

uo c

ymed

rig (C

) Ave

rage

sp

ring

tem

pera

ture

(C)

The trendline shows: Generally, as temperature get lower, crocus flowers open later – but there are some exceptions.

What years don’t fit the

trend?

Ans: 2009 & 2012

Possible explanation: Although the temperature in 2009 was quiet warm the flowers opened the latest. This is likely to be because the amount sunshine was quiet low that year.

Cymaru blodeuo yn y crocws gyda tymherau cymedrig Comparing crocus flowering with average spring temperatures

2010

2007 & 2008

20062011

2009

2012

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

01/Feb 06/Feb 11/Feb 16/Feb 21/Feb 26/Feb 03/Mar 08/Mar 13/Mar 18/Mar 23/Mar 28/Mar

Dyddiad blodeuo / Flowering date

Tym

here

dd b

lode

uo c

ymed

rig (C

) Ave

rage

sp

ring

tem

pera

ture

(C)

Cymaru blodeuo yn y crocws gyda oriau o haul Comparing crocus flowering dates with hours of sunshine

20092010

2012

2011

2006

2007 & 2008

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

84

01/Feb 06/Feb 11/Feb 16/Feb 21/Feb 26/Feb 03/Mar 08/Mar 13/Mar 18/Mar 23/Mar 28/Mar

Dyddiad blodeuo /Flowering date

Oria

u o

haul

Hou

rs o

f sun

shin

e

The trend shows: Generally, when there is less sunshine the crocus flowers open later – but there are some exceptions.

Cymaru blodeuo yn y crocws gyda oriau o haul Comparing crocus flowering dates with hours of sunshine

20092010

2012

2011

2006

2007 & 2008

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

84

01/Feb 06/Feb 11/Feb 16/Feb 21/Feb 26/Feb 03/Mar 08/Mar 13/Mar 18/Mar 23/Mar 28/Mar

Dyddiad blodeuo /Flowering date

Oria

u o

haul

Hou

rs o

f sun

shin

e

What years don’t fit the

trend?

Ans: 2006 & 2011

Possible explanations:

Although there wasn’t much sunshine in 2006 & 2012 the flowers opened quiet early. This is likely to be because the temperature was also quiet warm.

Although there was lots of sunshine in 2011 the flowers opened late. This is likely to be because the temperature was the coldest recorded.

Finding a trend is quite difficult but some things are clear…

The bulbs rely on both sunshine and warmth in order to flower.

Our seasons are becoming more unpredictable as our world is getting warmer.

Download the results yourself to…

Visit www.museumwales.ac.uk/scan/bulbs

•Make graphs & frequency charts or calculate the mean.

•See if the flowers opened late in schools that recorded cold weather

•See how temperature, sunshine and rainfall affect the average flowering dates.

•Look for trends between different locations.