Carol Long, associate curator of the garden, is kind enough to make a prediction about the March Bank’s blue phase of Siberian Squill and Glory-of-the-Snow:
[Gallery not found]Based on night and day time temperatures this week, plus the chance of rains Monday into Tuesday, I think that the March Bank will peak Wednesday or Thursday, March 14 or 15.
The 10 day forecast temperatures seems to be constantly changing but once the flowers have peaked, if the temperatures remain cool (50’s would be ideal but at this point I will take anything under 70!) it will prolong “the blue”. If the temperature creeps toward 70 that will cause the flowers to fade by the next day; what feels good to us is too warm for these cool season flowers, hence their name, glory-of-the-snow.
Planning a trip around a flowering schedule calls for one to be spontaneous. If you happen to miss the March Bank in its “blue phase” it just means that you will be hitting another plant as it is coming into flower—so you really cannot go wrong!
