Bloom Times Are Changing

(You Cannot UNSEE The Climate Crisis After This!)

I remember the first time it happen. At first I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at.
I stared at the strange colored beans in my hand and slowly put the story together.

There was only one possible explanation – the flowering period (bloom time) of the beans must have shifted. One plant bloomed earlier than expected and as a result cross-pollination occurred.

Little did I know back then, in the early 2000’s, that this was the harbinger of climate change impacts that would devastate my area in 2021. That first whisper of change that flies under the radar until you look back years later and go wow - that was a sign. But I know that now . . . .

What’s happening now is a LOT scarier than an unexpected cross-pollination event in a garden. And these latest impacts on plants could derail large portions of the food supply.

When you actually catch these shifts in action, it is something you cannot unsee. It is the smoking gun. So let me show you why it’s time to start taking some notes for yourself as to when plants are flowering in your area (and I have simple -free- tool that will help).

A Bean Of A Different Color

First, let me backtrack for a minute and explain the beans a bit more. It's important for context.

Back in the early 2000’s I was living on a small 5 acres farm growing food for my family. I raised three types of beans that I very carefully selected so that I could easily save my own seeds:

· French Filet – early producer of extra-long green beans with coffee colored seeds

· Purple Peacock – mid-season producer of blocky purple beans and rose pink seeds

· Blue Lake – heavy producer of short, thick, sweet green beans, with white seeds

The plan was simple: 3 different styles of fresh beans – 3 colors of bean seeds – and at least in my experience 3 different growth rates that meant I could save seeds off all of these without concern.

And this worked for me for years.

I planted white, rose and coffee colored beans, ate green and purple beans fresh during the summer and harvested white, rose and coffee colored beans each year from the pods I let mature for seed.

Until the year I stared down at the beans in my hand and they were different. In 2008, after years of successfully growing these three beans, suddenly I had black speckled beans?

Beans of a Different Color

Top left: dark coffee beans of the French fillet
Top right: rose beans of the Purple Peacock
Middle: What the heck are those????
Black speckled beans?

Be Curious!

Of course I simply had to know what these beans would turn into. Perhaps they had some magic in them?

So in 2009 I planted a section of garden with the new black speckled beans. And what grew was pretty amazing. The cross between the French Fillet and Purple Peacock resulted in beans with various co-dominant traits. They definitely tended towards the French Fillet parent. And among the resulting first generation offspring was something that greatly appealed to me - a PURPLE FILLET BEAN.

What a lucky find! And with years of patience and tending I was able to refine my selections to get more of the purple fillet characteristics and less of the other variants. Too cool, if you ask me.

A happy accident of nature. . . .

Co-dominant Traits

Far left: French Fillet Beans
Far right: Purple Peacock Beans
Middle: Various beans that grew from the black-speckled hybrid seeds (including some purple fillet type beans!??!)

But What Do Beans Have To Do With Anything?

Nothing at all. . . . and yet everything!

In and of itself, the creation of a new bean type is nothing new. Despite what proponents of hybrid seeds try to tell you, hybridization is not some highly specialized craft reserved for scientists and laboratories only. It happens all the time in nature all around the world. When two closely related plants cross-pollinate then something new gets created. Maybe it is an amazing new purple filet bean. Maybe it is just a mongrel that tastes like cardboard. Who knows? The results can be anything, and it takes time and effort to hone a diamond in the rough into a productive food plant worthy of garden space.

You could argue that what happened back then in my garden was nothing more than an artifact of how I had been selecting my seeds over the years, resulting in more similar growth patterns and flowering times.

You might right.

However, within that same time frame in my garden, I was also suddenly getting yellow, and also black, jalapeno peppers instead of the standard green ones. Somehow my jalapenos were now crossing to my sweet peppers? Never saw that before either!

These events renewed my energy around tracking when plants bloomed. Because WHEN the plants were flowering seemed to be suddenly allowing for crossing that had just never happened in all the years of gardening prior to this.

Curious-er and curious-er (to quote Alice in Wonderland).

Buttercups

Early spring bloomers are good indicators.

3 Big Blooming Shifts

I didn’t stop at noticing the flowers in the veggie garden. I started to pay more attention to when other plants, especially spring plants, were in flower as well.

Temperature and light are usually the two big drivers of when plants bloom. So if these conditions in my area were changing, then bloom times may be a good indicator. I started writing down when I saw the first flowers.

It is much easier to note when a plant first starts to flower than to catch the point at which it has stopped flowering.

Over time, the evidence of climate change impacts on plants is adding up. There seem to be at least 3 big shifts that are happening to plants.

Three big blooming shifts related to climate change include:

1. Blooming too early resulting in frost kills

2. Re-blooming of plants that normally only bloom once a year

3. Blooming WAY out of season

Frost Kills

Frost killing off early blossoms is not something that is new to the tree fruit industry. Many places have experience this over the years due to natural variation in when spring really unfolds.

In my area, Lillooet is known for the large number of apricots that were planted decades ago. Apricots are crazy abundant here. . . .Normally.

That’s why when unseasonably cold springs or sudden frosts, kill off the apricot blossoms there is a noticeable impact on how much fruit is available. People really start to notice when something so abundant like apricots suddenly become less available.

This kind of impact is not restricted to Lillooet or apricots. Florida and California have both seen impacts from frosts and unexpected cold snaps that can seriously reduce the size and value of the crops.

Unexpected cold. Too much heat. Too much water. Too little water. These crazy events are happening more and more often. The inability to predict the weather patterns turns our global food supply chain into a disaster. And even on a local level, food is about to get more unpredictable as the intensity of storms, droughts, floods and fires ramp up.

Last year during the 2021 an unexpected heat wave in May caused my raspberry crop to ripened faster than normal, but then the whole crop was literally cooked on the bushes during the peak of the Heat Dome. This year by July 4 I had barely picked a small bowl of raspberries. And by July 21 the crop is still producing well. What a difference one year makes!

When we can no longer predict one year to the next that our food crops will be there. Then what? The unseasonably cool spring gave me great raspberries, but my blackberries died back to the ground and there will be no fruit until next year.

Are you starting to understand where I am leading you? The climate crisis is messing with the food supply in bigger and bigger ways!

What if fruit becomes less abundant?

Apricots bloom very early in spring. They are vulnerable to late frost.

Re-Blooming of One Hit Wonders

Many of our native berry plants around Lillooet bloom in the spring and produce an abundance of berries starting anywhere from late June until September depending on the species and elevation it’s growing at. These berries have sustained local cultures here for thousands of years as dependable food sources.

Saskatoons (Amelanchier alnifolia) grow in abundance around Lillooet and typically bloom in mid-April. I’ve tracked these plants for years and their bloom time is pretty consistent within a 10-day time frame.

When a berry bush blooms, it is putting all its energy into reproduction. It is getting ready to produce fruit, which contain the seeds of the next generation of berry bushes.

So what do you think happens to a plant that blooms in the fall instead of the spring?

It’s putting all its energy into reproduction right before the killing impacts of frosts and winter snows are coming, instead of shutting itself down to survive the cold weather.

Starting somewhere around 2015 is the first time we starting finding Saskatoons and Huckleberries blooming in August and September instead of April or May (respectively).

And it wasn’t just these berries! People have been noticing other strange blooming events such as lilacs, magnolias, iris, and a wide variety of plants suddenly producing a second wave of flowers when this is unheard of in our area.

This type of disruptive blooming pattern demonstrates how responsive some plants are to temperature and light changes. Being adaptive is good on the one hand, but bad if it leaves the plant too weak or unprepared for a sudden fall cold snap or early frost.

It is too early to know for sure if re-blooming is going to cause any measurable impacts on plant populations. And it doesn't happen every year. But this is something definitely worth keeping your eyes peeled for!

Liliacs reblooming?

It's strange when a spring flower shows up again in the fall!

Blooming WAY Out of Season

Some of the things being seen are just clearly "unnatural".

You know things are headed into the twilight zone when you have dandelions BLOOMING in your fields in December instead of snow-covered grasses!

I simply rest my case on this one. Seeing is believing and flowers instead of snow is definitely one of those "can't unsee this impact" kind of events.

Dandelions in December?

What Does It Mean If the Flowers Stop?

It is all well and good for climate models to tell us that by 2050 the world will be two degrees hotter on average. But what that means in reality and how that affects the plants (our food!) we depend on is another story.

A recent study has shown that sixty-five plant species have been declared extinct in North America in 2021! This list is going to keep getting longer.

We need to wrap our heads around what these impacts can mean. The best way to start understanding this for yourself is to track the bloom times of some key plants in your area.

Time To Start Tracking!

Seeing for yourself is one of the most powerful forms of learning. As you track bloom times and see with your own eyes that what you expect isn't happening, then you simply cannot unsee this fact.

I'm hoping it will compel you to act faster and in bigger ways than ever before. The urgency of the climate crisis cannot be ignored.

Being compelled to act is the key.

It is so easy to get started!
(1) Choose some flowering plants in an area you regularly visit. That could be your backyard, garden, neighborhood, park or favorite place out in nature.

(2) Write down when the first flower appears.

(3) Record any unusual events like frost kills, re-blooming or blooming far outside of what has been considered "normal" for your area

That's all there is to it. Rinse and Repeat.

The more years you gather this data for yourself, the easier it is to spot trends. Knowledge is power!

Collect your own data for your own area. Prove to yourself what the climate impacts look like. And share what you know!

**************************************

You can download a FREE copy of the Food Abundance Revolution Bloom Time Tracker HERE. Make sure you check the box to receive FAR updates so you don't miss out on upcoming offers and events.

The FAR Community is now open (albeit this is baby steps folks so bear with me as I get the content in place). But this is where you can start to share you Bloom Tracking results with other members of the FAR community. . . . The Bloom Time Tracking topic is free to people who join the FAR Community. Check out the new FAR Blog space and Community here.

Bloom Time Tracker (FREE!)

Want an easy way to get started tracking blooms?
Download the Bloom Time Tracker from Food Abundance Revolution.

It's free.
It's easy to use.
Choose weekly, monthly and yearly formats.

Get Your Free Copy!

Growing From Home 2022 Summit (VIP Replay)

Want to learn more about actions you can take to create more sustainability for yourself and your region?

You can access all the expert interviews on sustainability through the Summit VIP Pass. Learn more about climate impacts, soil health, seed saving, gardening with kids, permaculture, food forests and so much more.

BUY A VIP PASS NOW - just $67 Cdn