Flowers for Bats campaign
Greetings!

Saguaros are blooming and agaves are bolting in the Tucson area! Have you seen saguaro or agave flowers yet at your site?

The photo at right of an Agave palmeri was taken last weekend up in Molino Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains. You can see the flower stalk starting to form. In a couple weeks this agave will likely have flower buds.

Are you a hiker? We are looking for volunteers to adopt trails to track flowering of agave! Available trails are listed on the Adopt a Trail map . You can visit as often as you choose. If you would like to adopt a trail, email Erin@usanpn.org !
How to get started
1. If you have not already done so, set up a site and add your plants to it in  Nature's Notebook . To see which species are available, visit the Flowers for Bats campaign page .
 
2. Start checking your plants for flowers or flower buds and open flowers . Note that once you see flowers open, you should continue to report a "yes" for flowers or flower buds as well as for open flowers .

3. Report your observations . Periodically log into your Observation Deck and transfer your observations from your paper data sheet into the online reporting system.

Did you know?  You can enter your observations directly using our mobile apps for Android or Apple devices.
When to start looking for flowers on your plants
What you are reporting on saguaro and agave
You are reporting on saguaro and agave at 24 different sites so far this year across Southeastern Arizona! In addition to our backyard observers, we have many partners who have already submitted data this year, including Tohono Chul, Tucson Botanical Garden, Tumamoc Hill, University of Arizona Campus Arboretum, and Watershed Management Group. Thank you for your efforts!
Sites reporting on saguaro and agave in 2019 in Southeastern Arizona. Colors correspond to the names of the species at the top. Darker colors indicate more observations submitted.
You are reporting flowering for saguaro, Palmer's agave and American century plant. You have not yet reported flowering for Parry's agave or desert agave.
You started reporting flowers or flower buds in saguaro in March, and open flowers in April. The proportion of plants with flower buds and open flowers has not yet peaked this year, so keep watching your plants!
You started reporting flowers or flower buds in American century plant in March, and open flowers in April. As with saguaro, keep reporting on your plants so that we can find out when the peak in plants with flowers occurs.
Remember that for agave, you should start reporting flowers or flower buds once you see the flower buds on the branches of the stalk.


Don't hesitate to contact erin@usanpn.org with any questions!
Earn your Flowers for Bats badge! You can earn this badge by observing one of the Flowers for Bats agaves or columnar cacti once a week for six separate weeks in the same year. See it on your Observation Deck .



Thank you for your contributions to this important project!
Contact
Erin Posthumus
erin@usanpn.org
520-621-1670
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