NOVEMBER 2025: WISDOM FROM THE WILD CHILD GARDEN: A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO PHENOLOGY

Phenology: the study of seasonal events and how they relate to plant, animal, and insect life. Instead of planting by the calendar, observable natural events are used to plant crops.

There are some traditional sayings that are based on phenology, such as plant corn when oak leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear, plant potatoes when dandelions bloom, and plant bean, cucumber, and squash seeds when lilac is in full bloom. The phenological record for the local area can be discovered by keeping careful notes each year. Over several years, relationships such as what plants are blooming around the same time particular pests become an issue in the garden can be noticed. Because the weather changes based on the location, as well as the individual features of the property, phenological correlations can be a great secret to successful garden timing.

Plant Phenophases: observable stages or phases in the annual life cycle of a plant that can be defined by a start and end point, such as leaf budding, flowering, and fruit ripening, that are tracked in the study of phenology. These stages are sensitive to environmental cues like temperature, precipitation, and day length, and their timing is used by scientists and gardeners to understand climate change impacts and plan planting schedules. These phases generally have a duration of a few days or weeks, and examples include the period over which newly emerging leaves are visible, or open flowers are present on a plant.

Examples of Plant Phenophases:

• Bud development: breaking leaf buds or emerging needles.

• Leaf development: newly emerging or expanding leaves.

• Flowering: flower buds opening, flowers in bloom, and pollen release.

• Fruit development: fruit or seed development and ripening.

• Leaf fall: colored leaves or leaves falling in autumn.

How Plant Phenophases Are Used:

• Climate change research: Scientists monitor Phenophase timing to see how shifts in climate, especially temperature, affect plants and the ecosystems they are part of.

• Gardening: experienced gardeners and those using phenology can use natural cues to guide planting and maintenance.

• Ecological studies: tracking Phenophases helps understand how plants interact with pollinators, herbivores, and other species that depend on them. 

Phenological Correlations: relationships observed to be successful:

• Plant peas when forsythia blooms.

• Plant potatoes, beets, carrots, brassicas, lettuce and spinach when the first dandelion blooms or lilac is in first leaf.

• Plant cold hardy crops when peach and plum trees bloom.

• Plant corn when oak leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear.

• Plant bean, cucumber, and squash seeds when lilac is in full bloom.

• Plant tomatoes when day lilies bloom or flowering dogwood starts to bloom.

• Transplant eggplant, melons, and peppers when irises and day lilies bloom.

• Plant warm season crops when grapevines put out new growth.

• Plant fall cabbage crop when mock orange is in bloom.

• Protect against squash vine borer when chicory flowers open.

• Protect fruit against apple maggots when Canada thistle is in bloom.

• Protect against Mexican bean beetle larvae when foxglove blooms.

• Protect against cabbage root maggots when wild rocket blooms.

• Protect against Japanese beetles when morning glory vines begin to climb.

• Protect against tent caterpillars are hatching when crab apple trees bud.

• Start saving seeds when the birds start dining on old flower heads.

Phenology is how nature works as it adapts to climate and weather, acts on favorable conditions, and it is about survival and ensuring the next generation. Through thousands of years of evolution, birds aren’t going to migrate until there’s food sources available at their next resting places, Bats aren’t awakening from their winter’s rest until there’s lots of insects to gobble up in the air, peepers don’t peep until their intended mates are also out of hibernation and ready to rumba, apple trees produce flowers and then fruit when the conditions are favorable for pollinators and then ripening, and bees are most active when nectar and pollen is abundant.

Unseasonably warm temperatures in early spring may prompt one species of birds to take their migratory journey early, however; another species with a longer route knows nothing of the warm spell and maintains their usual travel timeline. Upon arriving at their summer grounds, they find that the birds who arrived early have eaten all the caterpillars, and they struggle to find food.

Phenology Wheel: an artistic way to record nature observations and observations of seasonal and cyclical change by recording nature observations like weather, wildlife, and plant life on a wheel shaped chart on a monthly or daily basis throughout the year. The wheel can be used to record nature observations like changes in plants and trees, changes in the season, how the moon moves through its phases, animal life cycles, and what wildlife are present in the area during different parts of the year.

Items to Include in the Wheel from the Outermost circle in:

• Date.

• Moon Phase from the Farmer’s Almanac moon phase calendar.

• Weather.

• Sunrise.

• Sunset.

• High temperature.

• Low temperature.

• Name of the full moon.

Record the Dates, Unusual Weather, and Take Photos:

• Last frost date.

• Final melting of ice and snow.

• Trees start budding out.

• Trees leafing out.

• Trees leaves fully open.

• First trilliums in the woods.

• Tulips 2″ out of ground.

• Tulips blooming.

• Apple and plum tree blossoms fully open.

• Lilacs budding and blooming.

• Poppies in bloom.

• Irises in bloom.

• Delphiniums in bloom.

• Asters in bloom.

• First worms out of soil.

• First male cardinal mating calls.

• First robins in the garden build a nesting shelf.

• First peeper mating calls.

• First bats swooping for mosquitoes in the evenings.

• First baby toads.

• First bees.

• First hummingbirds, Baltimore orioles, and Rose-breasted grosbeaks.

• First butterflies including arriving monarch migrations and moths.

• First tomatoes ripe.

• First frost.

• Unusual weather and temperatures

• Record the planting dates and how successful the crops were.