I was up in Mamaroneck the whole weekend having gladly agreed to to dogsit Mayzie the family Springer. Maybe it was the luxury of time that allowed me to notice a very slight difference in the flower shapes at dusk in particular the Potentilla and the Geranium Johnson's Blue. I couldn't help thinking that the former looked bigger or more open while the latter looked more closed or smaller.
I didn't think anymore about it until today walking to the train station to catch the train home, when I noticed a huge patch of Buttercups, their faces all pointed at the sun. Of course, its Circadian Rhythms. I say of course because I realize that I had mentally filed away an article in the NYTimes that outlined the idea of a 'Floral Clock' meaning to go back and find out a little more about the subject and the man behind it - Carl Linnaeus.
It's not just shapes, and movement its also scents as they shift in their potency at different times of day. I noticed this walking Mayzie both in the morning and evening and how different the experience was. Fascinating to think that the stretching of the days ahead opens up a complex torrent of biological rhythms and not just for the garden, it affects the gardeners too.
+ OGMedia:Elements of the Science of Botany
