Calendar Gardens

The Calender Garden project was initiated by the SAEON Ndlovu Node. The project brings science and environmental awareness to schools in a fun and unique way. This project uses five plant species that have a clear flowering and/or leafing phenology. The plants are planted in special gardens at schools and the learners monitor and report back when each of the plants produces their first flower or leaf of the season. With changes in the seasonal timing of rainfall and earth atmospheric conditions, the phenology (timing of leaf production and flowering) will act as an indicator of a change in climate. For the comparison over a regional scale the project plans to roll out Calendar Gardens in schools across South Africa. The SAEON Grassland-Forests-Wetlands Node has partnered with the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA) to establish this project in the KwaZulu-Natal Province (KZN) on behalf of the SAEON Ndlovu Node. To date (2014) two Calendar Gardens have successfully been established, one at the KZN SANBI Botanical Gardens and the other at the Umgeni Valley Conservancy. An additional three Calendar Gardens are scheduled to be established at three schools, namely King's School, Shea O'Connor and Scottsville Primary later in 2014.