The Crocus Report

Crocus blooming in Pittsburgh, PA, 9 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

11 March 2021

This week I saw my first crocuses of 2021 at Homewood Cemetery on Tuesday 9 March. This month we’ve had several days over 60 degrees F. Are we having an early spring? Let’s look at The Crocus Report.

Tiny crocus at Homewood Cemetery, 9 March 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

Since 2009 my blog has kept a record of crocus first-bloom dates in Pittsburgh’s East End. At first it was accidental. (I was excited by flowers and had to write about them.) Now I am intentional though unscientific. I don’t view the same crocuses every year and I don’t look for them every day. However, my crocus records show these bloom dates …

… that range from 23 February (2018, the February heat dome) to 22 March (2014, our Polar Vortex winter). Some dates repeat.

2021 calendar showing Crocus blooming dates in Pittsburgh’s East End, 2009-2021

It may seem silly to write things down but the records are useful later. The past illuminates the present and could help predict the future, though it’s harder in this topsy-turvy world of climate change.

p.s. Gardeners have more accurate records than I do. They watch the same plants every year.

(photos by Kate St.John, calendar from timeanddate.com)

2 thoughts on “The Crocus Report

  1. Anxiously waiting on mine. But you gotta be quick cause the deer and rabbits will mow them down if you are too slow to get the repellant on.

  2. I was happy to see honeybees on my species crocuses yesterday. The species bloom earlier than the larger hybrids.

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