There is spring somewhere on the planet - probably all the time. The fact that Victoria - on the other side of Canada will have more than 44 billion blooms counted by March 12th seems amazing compared to the view out my window.
Yes, the Snowdrops are starting to bloom in my garden. the Witch hazel bush has little yellow flowers. So the Snowdrops would make my personal garden’s flower count around 100 blooms right now.
Isn’t that paltry in comparison to the winning class last year? Margaret Jenkins Elementary School counted 11 billion blooms, with one classroom doing most of the counting to win the Bloomingest Classroom. I didn’t know we had that kind of attention span anymore. It gives one hope for our future.
The current count right now is over 31 million. Here’s something new this year: the counting guidelines:
“To manage the massive numbers (tens of billions), organizers provide a guide for counting:
small tree: 250,000
medium tree: 500,000
large tree: 750,000
smaller heather bush: 500
medium heather ushers: 1,000
large heather bush: 2,000”
And here’s a post from the Greater Victoria Flower Count 2 years ago:
Flower Fun Fact: Did you know there are three different blooming, pink trees in Victoria? 
Plum blossoms, peach blossoms, and cherry blossoms all bloom in Greater Victoria, and generally in that order. Here are some ways you can tell them apart:
Cherry blossoms bloom downward, and have a notch at the tip of their petals.
Plum blossoms have round petals, and only one flower per node. They are also the most fragrant.
Peach blossoms produce two flowers per node, and are the only ones to produce leaves at the same time as blooms.
Isn’t that so much more fun and interesting than regular news.
I am getting ahead of myself, though. We will have to wait more than a month for this show, but when it comes it is splendid!
