Phenology has been around for a long time. It’s a way to gauge the weather and the temperature in correlation with plants and animals and insects and what’s going on with them, like when things hatch and bloom. The OSU has kind of come up with a real scientific way of essentially creating a cumulative average. Like today, the degree day is eight. It’s very scientific how they get that number, but it does explain it on that website. For instance, when the forsythia blooms, that’s when they say you would plant your peas or like how grandma would always say, when the crab apples are in bud, the tent caterpillars are going to emerge.  That’s what phenology is, watching what’s going on, what’s budding and what’s going along with it. We’re using mother nature as a clock instead of a calendar or a specific date because, okay, let’s face it, we’re Ohio.

We can be super cold, super late or really warm, really early. Using those telltale signs where the plants are going to be consistent every time. It doesn’t matter whether it’s April or March that they start to do their things, the insects are reacting in that same timeframe. A lot of the growing nurseries are very mindful and watch that so they know when to put their applications down of insecticides to control certain pests. It’s really nice, that’s what the OSU has done is that you can look and you can go by your zip code, put it in and see what’s going on. When the star magnolias are blooming, that’s when the crabgrass is going to start first coming out. It’s a great way to gauge when to put things down and when to plant stuff. The Ohio State Phenology Calendar.

Check it out, see what’s happening around you! And if something should be planted soon, maybe snag it from either of our stores and get a head start!