Hello Bulb Buddies,

Well, you have been busy! A further 78 flowering records have been entered this week bringing us to a total of 175 flowers!

For those of you still waiting for your flowers to bloom here are some helpful tips:

1. Your plants have flowered when you can see all of their petals, without the outer casing that protects them while they are developing (see the picture to the right).
2. Remember to measure in mm!
3. Measure from the top rim of your plant pot to the highest point of your flower.
4. Remember to record the date when you enter your flowering record on the National Museum Wales website!
5. Please leave comments when you enter your records, this is your chance to tell me what you’ve liked or disliked about the project!
6. Please send pictures! I have been able to share a few pictures posted by schools on Twitter. If your school doesn’t use Twitter maybe your teacher could email pictures to me!

There isn’t long to go now, only two more weeks of collecting and entering weather data!

Remember, the 27th of March is the deadline for entering all of your weather data. You must do this to achieve your Super Scientist certificates and be in for a chance of winning a museum nature trip!

Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies

Professor Plant

Your comments:

The Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School: We were very excited this week as there were lots of buds on our crocuses. The weather has been getting warmer and today the first crocus flowers opened in the sunshine and we had to measure them carefully, H and J. Prof P: Well done H and J! I hope you have enjoyed studying the development of your plants. There are other experiments you can do that demonstrate how your flowers respond to light and heat. I will send these to your teacher but you can also find them on the website under ‘Professor Plant’s investigation ideas’. Keep up the good work!

Rivington Foundation Primary School: On Monday we had snow! And on Thursday we were on a school trip. Prof P: Well Rivington Foundation Primary School, you’ve had quite an exciting week! And you still managed to document your weather records, thank you very much!

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: Still no sign of bulbs in pots flowering yet, we think the ones in the ground are doing better, as the roots have more space to grow, unlike the pots which have restricted space! It’s lovely and sunny here today, with a good sunny forecast for the weekend. When we return to school on Monday we should hopefully start to see our bulbs flowering. Prof P: Hi Stanford in the Vale Primary, I’m pleased to hear that you are observing other plants and discussing the effects of environment on growth and development. I hope the sun over the weekend spurs on your plants, it shouldn’t be long now so watch them closely!

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: The bulb's still have not came out yet but one of them is almost out. Prof P: It shouldn’t be long now Our Lady of the Peace Primary! Watch the flower buds carefully to see how they open. The spathe will begin to split lengthways as the bud grows! If your teacher has a camera you might be able to take pictures that show the different stages of the bud flowering!

Thorn Primary School: We are very sorry but we were unable to submit plants data this week as there was building work taking place at school and we could not safely get to the thermometer and rain collector. We will be fine to collect our data this week. Prof P: Thank you for letting me know Thorn Primary School, and not to worry! I look forward to seeing your data next week.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: My name is T and my flower was first to open. It was outside when it opened but when we brought it inside it opened even more. We were amazed. Even our teacher was amazed. Prof P: Hi T. I’m glad that you have been studying your plants so closely, they are fascinating things! Did you discuss why the flower reacted to being moved inside? I suspect your classroom was a lot warmer than the playground!!

Swiss Valley School: Hello how do we record the mystery bulbs please? Prof P: Hi Swiss Valley School. You can record the mystery bulbs flowering dates for your own records in the class room, but there is no need to record them on the NMW website. Schools that are taking part in the Edina Trust extension projects were given an extra 20 daffodil bulbs to plant in the ground, and those schools are asked to document the flowering dates for these on the Edina Trust website. This is so that they can compare the flowering dates of those in the ground to those in pots and think of reasons why these might be different. Have you noticed differences in the development of your mystery bulbs to your bulbs in pots? Can you think of reasons for this?

Ysgol Iau Hen Golwyn: We enjoyed measuring them. Prof P: I’m glad to hear that you are enjoying the project Ysgol Iau Hen Golwyn! Keep up the good work.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: All our crocus have flowered and they are looking so pretty. What a lovely week of warmer weather, and finally the rain came today, we are so in need of more rain.....we looked at the weather data as a group and noticed Oxfordshire have had little rain this year! Prof P: Hi Stanford in the Vale Primary. What a lovely post, and it’s nice to see a positive spin on rain! I’m glad that you are using the resources on the map to study readings from other schools! You can also use the Met Office WOW website to look at readings in other areas.

Ro'n i'n falch iawn (a braidd yn nerfus) i fynychu Hacio'r Iaith am y tro cyntaf dros y penwythnos. Mae'r diwrnod ar fformat barcamp - sy'n gofyn bod pawb yn dod â rhywbeth i'w drafod, ei gyfrannu neu'i gyflwyno. Canlyniad hyn oedd diwrnod llawn ymgysylltu, dysgu a hwyl - mi oedd bron bob sgwrs yn sesiwn yn ei hun, a mi ddysgais i gymaint am blatfformau a phrosiectau digidol Cymraeg. Dwi ar fy ffordd i sesiwn Digidol ar Daith, felly gobeithio y gallai bostio crynodeb fwy trylwyr o beth ddysges i yn fuan.

Er fy mod i wedi hen arfer siarad yn gyhoeddus, dyma fy sgwrs gyntaf ar ran yr adran ddigidol - ac am fy mod yn cyflwyno am @DyddiadurKate, roeddwn i'n awyddus i wneud argraff dda ar ran y tîm sy'n gweithio mor galed ar y prosiect. Cewch edrych dros fy sleidiau, a chrynodeb o'r sgwrs ar wefan Hacio'r Iaith. Cewch chwilio trwy #fwrlwm y dydd ar twitter hefyd.

Diolch i'r trefnwyr a'r cyfrannwyr am y croeso, ac am yr ysbrydoliaeth!

• There are currently about 100 breeding ewes in the flock and we expect 150+ lambs.
• Our ewes are 2 years old the first time they lamb.
•  The gestation period for a sheep is 5 months:

1. The ewes come into season in September.
2. We put our rams in the field in with the girls on 1st October.
3. Lambing will commence in the first week of March.
4. We choose this schedule in order to have lambs on show in the fields for Easter.

•  The pregnant ewes come in from the field just after Christmas for extra care, shelter and food. This is important for strong lamb development.
• The ewes are all scanned in the New Year and we separate them into two groups:

1. Those expecting a single lamb in one group.
2. Those expecting twins or triplets in the other.

• Normal presentation for a lamb to be born is head and forelegs first. If this is the case then the ewes can normally manage with no assistance. They will sometimes need help if the lamb is particularly big, or if it is coming the wrong way round.
• Once they have given birth, the ewe and her lambs will be put into a separate pen:

1. This allows the bonding process to happen.
2. It prevents the ewes that haven’t lambed yet from overenthusiastically ‘adopting/stealing’ someone else’s baby!
3. They stay separate for 1–2 days.
4. Weather permitting, healthy ewes and lambs can go out into the field after 3–5 days.

•  It is normal for ewes to have blood and mucus around their back ends after giving birth.
•  It is normal for new babies to sleep a lot – newborn lambs will sleep for 12–16 hours a day.
• We will probably keep or sell most of the female lambs as pedigree breeding stock, most of the males will go for meat with a few of the best sold as breeding rams.
•  Lamb on your plate is anything from 4–12 months old.

A ninnau bron ar derfyn 3 mis cyntaf @DyddiadurKate, mae un ‘cymeriad’ wedi chwarae rhan blaenllaw iawn yng nghofnodion yr wythnosau diwethaf sy’n haeddu bach o sylw ar y blog – y peiriant dyrnu. Rhwng Ionawr a Mawrth 1915, bu’r peiriant hwn ar grwydr i sawl ffermdy gerllaw cartref Kate a’i theulu. Ynghyd â mynychu’r capel, corddi a chrasu, hynt a helynt y peiriant dyrnu yw un o brif weithgarwch y dyddiadur hyd yma. Ond diolch amdano. Arferion amaethyddol fel hyn sy’n gwreiddio’r dyddiadur o fewn cymuned a chyfnod.

18 Ionawr – Yr injan ddyrnu yn Llwyniolyn

23 Ionawr – Ellis yn Tynybryn gyda’r peiriant dyrnu

30 Ionawr – Y peiriant dyrnu yn Penycefn

2 Mawrth – Yr injan ddyrnu yn y Derwgoed

4 Mawrth – Ellis yn mynd i Fedwarian at y peiriant dyrnu

Yma yn Sain Ffagan, mae sawl un mwy cymwys na fi i drafod peiriannau dyrnu. Un o fy mhrif ddiddordebau i fel curadur yw hanes prosesau casglu – y dulliau hynny a ddefnyddwyd gan Iorwerth Peate, Ffransis Payne, Minwel Tibbott ac eraill i roi hanes Cymru ar gof a chadw. Mewn blog blaenorol, soniais am waith arloesol yr Amgueddfa ym maes cofnodi hanes llafar – bu Kate Rowlands ei hun yn destun sawl cyfweliad. Dull poblogaidd arall a fabwysiadwyd gan yr Amgueddfa i gasglu data oedd holiaduron a llyfrau ateb. Roedd y rhain yn cael eu gyrru at unigolion o fewn plwyfi yng Nghymru yn gofyn am wybodaeth benodol ynglyn ag arferion eu milltir sgwâr. Mae casgliad helaeth ohonynt yma yn trafod amrywiol bynciau – meddygyniaethau gwerin, arferion tymhorol ac ati. I’r un perwyl, mae gennym hefyd bentwr o lythyrau ac ysgrifau.

Tra’n chwilota am ddeunydd yn yr archif o ardal y Sarnau, Cefnddwysarn a bro @DyddiadurKate, fe ddes i o hyd i ysgrif gan Mary Winifred Jones o’r Hendre, Cwm Main. Bydd mwy ar y blog cyn hir am y teulu hwn – mae tad a brodyr Mary yn cael eu crybwyll sawl gwaith yn y dyddiadur. Ysgrif yw hon sy’n disgrifio ffotograff o ddiwrnod dyrnu ar fferm Pentre Tai’n y Cwm, Cefnddwysarn. Gallwch weld y llun a’r ysgrif fan hyn. Tybed os mai hwn yw’r peiriant dyrnu y mae Kate yn sôn amdano?

Ar fuarth fferm Seimon Davies Pentre Tai yn Cwm Cefnddwysarn y tynwyd y darlun hwn. Perchenog y peiriant oedd Morgan Hughes Bryniau Cynlas ar ol hyny. Bu y peiriant yn gyfrwyn i roi gwaith i amryw amaethwyr bychain yn ystod y gaeaf pan oedd ychydig yn dod i fewn am fod ganddo ychwaneg nag un peiriant yr oedd yn rhaid cael dau ddyn i ganlyn pob un sef y gyrwr ar porthwr…

Yr hyn sy’n dod yn amlwg wrth ddarllen atgofion Mary Jones, ac yn wir dyddiadur Kate Rowlands, yw pwysigrwydd cydweithio o fewn cymuned amaethyddol – cymdogion a ffrindiau, hen ac ifanc, yn cynorthwyo’i gilydd.

On 19th February, I joined science curator Kate Mortimer-Jones to study marine life on the shores around Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, not far from the border with Scotland. While Kate hunted for magalonid marine bristleworms, I looked at seaweeds. Much of England’s east coast is not particularly suitable for seaweeds; however, the rocky shores around Northumberland form plenty of ideal habitats.

It was early in the year, so I wasn’t expecting to see the seaweeds that die down for the winter (similar to annual and perennial flowering plants). I was also expecting a lower diversity here when compared with Welsh shores due to the colder climate. Species with south-western distributions that prefer a relatively warmer climate, such as Brown Tuning Fork Weed (Bifurcaria bifurcata), relatively common in Wales, do not grow as far north and east as Northumberland. With climate change, however, there is always the possibility that these southern species may expand their range further north. This is more likely for non-native species that are in the process of establishing in the UK, so I was on the look-out.

There are some seaweeds that only grow in the north of the UK, such as the Northern Tooth Weed (Odonthalia dentata) which is absent from Wales. I wanted to become familiar with these in the field rather than just seeing them as pressed specimens in our collections. It’s always exciting to find a species for the first time in the wild too.

Despite the time of year and the north-eastern location, the very sheltered shore was an excellent one for seaweeds and I documented a wide range of species. While it was important to collect specimens as a permanent back-up for records and for future research, I had to remind myself not to collect too many as they take a long time to process and I didn’t want to be up until the ‘wee hours’.

Preservation of the seaweeds involves several techniques depending on future use. To preserve the seaweed’s DNA for molecular analysis, the seaweed needs to be dried as quickly as possible in a bag with silica gel. Combining DNA characters with morphological ones (such as shape and colour) is sometimes the only way to be sure of an identification. To preserve 3D structure and some microscopic details well, a sample is placed in a tube with formaldehyde for fixation. Finally, the traditional and still most effective method for overall preservation is to press and dry the specimen, unfortunately this is the most time consuming process. You float each seaweed out onto paper, place nappy liners on top (a crucial part to stop the seaweed sticking to the paper above it), then place a piece of blotting paper underneath and on top and put it into a plant press. At least once a day, I swapped the wet blotting paper for dry and made sure the wet paper dried out quickly enough to be used in the next cycle. A lengthy procedure, but worth it for excellently preserved specimens that will be invaluable for future research.

I had access to a microscope with a camera attached and so was able to take close-up images of the seaweeds while they were fresh. These will be useful when looking at dried specimens back in the museum. Characters such as colour and 3D structure can be altered in the drying process, but will show up well in these photos. I also took lots of photos with a waterproof camera (it is too terrifying to take a non-waterproof camera onto the shore!) and I will share some more of these in my next blog.