Well done bulb buddies!

Well done to everyone who has sent in weather and flower records this week! Because flowering is so late this year we are extending the deadline for Flower Records to Friday 19 April. Hopefully this will give some of your plants a bit more time to grow!

The deadline for Weather Records is still the end of this week – so please send them in by Friday 29 March. Please also send me your pictures for the drawing competition by Friday 29 March too.

Thank you so much for all your hard work and for helping me with this very important investigation! Everyone who has sent in records will receive a Super Scientist Certificate and a fabulous Super Scientist red pencil! The school that sent in the most Spring Bulbs weather data will also win a Nature-Activity trip!

I will announce the winner on the 22 April, and the runners-up will get lovely prizes too. I will send certificates and pencils to schools on 6 May and will send the results of the Spring Bulbs investigation at the end of May.

You can take your plants home for holidays if you like, or keep watching them in school. If your flowers have not opened by the deadline please record this on the Flower record form and send it in. Every year we have some bulbs that do not flower. If this happens to your bulb it can feel a bit sad, but this is very important scientific information too and you will still receive your certificate and pencil, of course!

Whose flowers have opened this week?

Hywel Da Primary School, Ysgol Gynradd Talybont, Coed-y-Lan Primary, Darran Park Primary¸St Joseph's Primary School (Penarth) and Henllys CIW Primary in Wales, Stanford in the Vale Primary School, Archbishop Hutton's Primary School, St. Mary's RC Primary School (Lancashire) and St Nicholas Primary School in England, have all reported that their flowers have opened! Congratulations and thank you for sending your records.

Did you know?

• Snow is not unusual in March or April. In fact, it is more likely to snow at Easter than it is at Christmas!

I got this fact from Derek the weatherman! Derek says that this week may be cold with easterly winds but it may turn a bit milder by Good Friday.

Do you fancy going for a walk in the woods to look for wild spring flowers? Why not have a look at the Woodland Trust website to see what signs of Spring you can spot - from catkins and tree blossom to hearing a cuckoo or spotting a bumble bee.

Your questions, my answers:

Tynewater Primary School: We've had quite a lot of snow this which is still lying although beginning to melt. Our bulbs are barely showing through the earth - even the ones in the pots. We are on holiday for the next two weeks and if the bulbs are not showing any progress we will move them where they get a bit more sun than they do at the moment. Sorry again that we are irregular with our data. We are still keeping the information. Prof P: Thanks for the fantastic update TynewaterSchool, I hope that the new flower record deadline will give your flowers a little more time to grow.

Glyncollen Primary School: Nearly all our daffodils are open. Our crocuses have also opened. We still don't know what our mystery bulbs are. We hope we don't get any snow! Prof P: Wonderful news! I bet they look beautiful!

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: A mixture of cold winds, rain and a hopeful spring day, which turned to rain! Stanford Gardening Club. Prof P: Great weather reporting Stanford in the Vale!

Newport Primary School: It snowed at the beginning of this week and was really cold especially in the morning. The wind was very chilly. By the end of the week it warmed up a wee bit. Prof P: You are very dedicated scientists to keep sending your weather reports when it’s so cold and snowy - well done Newport Primary.I hope you all have nice warm coats on when you go outside to record the weather!

Oakfield Primary School: What do you think about this week’s rainfall? Prof P: We had a lot of rain on Friday in Cardiff, didn’t we Oakfield? My rain gauge was quite full too.

Greyfriars RC Primary School: crocuses are starting to grow. Prof P: I am very glad, please keep sending in your records Greyfriars, you are doing a great job.

Newburgh Primary School: Our first crocus has flowered! We recorded this at the end of the day on Friday so we'll send details on Monday. Prof P: Hooray! And thank you for sending your crocus record – you can see it on the map. If you zoom in and click on the flower it will say the name of your school!

St Joseph's Primary School (Penarth): With only a week to go before the end of term, we are very keen for our bulbs to flower. We are keeping an extremely close eye on our pots and are ready to photograph the bulbs at the first sign of a flower! Prof P: Fingers crossed for you St Joseph’s. Please do send me your photos, even if your flowers open after the deadline.

Many thanks

Prof P