Blooming Fun!!

Almost two weeks ago we challenged all of our students to take a peek at changes that are happening outside as spring started, warmer weather has been coming our way and we have more hours of daylight.  I have really enjoyed observing the flowers blooming in my own garden and posting photos here to share with you since we can't be in our classroom together. I hope some of you have been able to get outside and make your own observations of where you live!

3/18/20

From bud to blossom. WHEN will my tree
look like this?

 Let's take it back to the beginning to see some of the changes that have taken place. Look at the forsythia tree buds from 3/18/20. I notice they are pretty tightly closed and they have a dark covering over the buds, they are mostly brown in color. They look a lot different than the bright yellow blossoms that will be blooming.....soon?

I didn't observe much change 3/20/20

WOW! Snow came on 3/24/20
It didn't seem to harm the buds on the tree

I WONDER....do you think that dark covering over the buds and having them closed tightly helped protect the flower that is growing inside? I sure hope so!

3/27/20

I observed the buds looking a little lighter in color but about the same size, showing very little blooming progress. This weekend I decided to cut some branches and bring them inside to put them in a vase with water.

Forsythia and Pussy Willow branches
on my dining room table

You may notice in the vase there are some other branches that my daughter Evi put in there. These are pussy willow branches that we discovered on one of our walks. The soft fuzzy little nubs were fun to touch and  really did remind us of our cats' paws which the branch is named for.




Now it's time for PREDICTIONS
1.  Think about the bud photos that I have posted above. Did you observe anything different than what I observed?

2. Do you think bringing some of the branches inside will change anything about the buds? If you say "YES" please post in the comments below your prediction of WHAT WILL HAPPEN and WHY. 



WE HAVE FLOWERS!

Let's look at the stages of blossoming!

first the bud turned green

then the bud started to open, flower petals are obvious

the end of the bud turned yellow

the petals started to open

 

TA-DA!!

Time lapse video of flower opening overnight

This is what the pussy willow looked like when we
put it in water with the forsythia

It bloomed also!