Journey North Tulip Garden and Climate Change Study

Spring at Latitude 45 Degrees North
Council, Idaho
45 North, 116 West
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Council, Idaho (44.9, -116.6) is just about 35 miles south of the 45th parallel. You pass through a pine forested canyon, following Highway 95, to get to our town. We have beautiful cattle ranches on the foot hills of the valley. The Payette National Forest surrounds us. Council Mountain is the tallest mountain and sits just east of the town. It is 8000 feet high. On the valley floor we are at 3000 feet above sea level.
To the north east is a town called McCall. It is a mountain resort with a large lake known as Payette Lake. In winter people visit the area to ski and to take part in the McCall winter carnival.

Our town used to be a logging town. Last year, when we did not take records from our tulip garden, we had the most snow we've ever had, over five feet in most places. This year we had close to three feet.

Spring has sprung for us in Council, as we spotted the first two robins of the year in our backyard. I am truly looking forward to see when our tulips will finally emerge from the ground

Sincerely,
Mrs. Huter, Council, ID

Our Garden Journal

02/27/09
This morning I, along with my grandson, walked on top of frozen snow to the tulip bed site. There, where some of the snow had melted back, were the first tulips emerging! I saw several, probably 7 or 8 that had emerged during the first warmth of spring. Though this garden is not at the school site, the bulbs were planted at the proper depth and given some fertilizer to feed them through the winter. I am definitely looking forward to their beautiful colors.

04/14/09
I had one red emperor bloom yesterday, but it was not in the group of tulips that I had planned for the tulip project. Today, several (5-6) tulips are blooming in my Journey North tulip bed, even though it is colder (43 degrees) and windier than yesterday. Our spring has been very pleasant with several warm days followed by cool days, then warming up again.

About Our Garden

PLANTED: October 16
EMERGED: February 27
BLOOMING: April 14