Bloom Day Postscript

Although these crocuses were already in bloom on Bloom Day (March 15th) in Chester, the photo wasn't available at the time. The lovely blooms are so profuse, however, that they deserve a showing, whatever the date.

It appears that Bloom Day itself is a foggy concept to some some gardeners in the Chester area. To clear up any confusion on the part of anyone reading this blog, an explanation may be in order. Garden Bloggers Bloom Day was initiated in the USA in 2009, with the aim of showcasing the wide variety of plants growing in different climates and regions at the same time. Anyone can join by posting their photos of garden blooms on their own blog, and registering the name and the url of their own site at "maydreamsgardens.com" , a blog which is maintained by a keen gardener in Indiana.


Your blogger came across the concept when reviewing a number of gardening blogs during the winter and, in fact, reported on the project in January of this year. (see the side-bar for a list of all our previous blogs). To view the submissions for the most recent Bloom Day, go to maydreamsgardens.com and scroll down through Carol's description of her own March Bloom Day (in text and photos) until you find the long list of sites (153 at last count) that have joined the project. We hope to have more photos submitted to our site for the next Bloom Day (April 15th), and perhaps we will be able to add Chester Garden Club's url to the list.

Meanwhile, as a postscript to the Club's last meeting, we are pleased to post the next two photos: one of speaker John Pece in conversation with Jane Wilkins, who introduced him to the meeting, and another as he sat with Sheila Knowlton-MacRury, the club's president. John's presentation was a wide-ranging survey of the principles of sustainable building and the physics of trapping solar heat in a greenhouse. He is currently living and working on Nova Scotia's South Shore and can be reached at whitedogdesignbuild@yahoo.com.

And, below, another shot of crocus blooms in a Chester garden. Following a particularly heavy rain and wind storm at the end of February, March has provided an unusually warm and dry introduction to Spring in our area, to date.