You can't always trust the weather forecast. You can get more reliable results from your own garden, provided you have the right plants.
The weather is something that we cannot directly influence, but on which we depend enormously in our daily planning. Especially in summer, when the time of year comes to a close when large parts of life take place outdoors in nature or at least in the home garden, one would sometimes wish to be able to predict the weather better. Especially since the weather forecast is often wrong. And if you search the internet for a reliable weather app, you will quickly find that four different apps offer four different weather forecasts for the same day. Ultimately, you can choose which forecast suits you best - in the end you have to be surprised what the weather really has in store for us.
But is it really like that? In the garden at home in particular, there are a number of ways to quickly get an overview of the weather forecast for the next few hours. Because a large number of the plants found in German gardens can be used as a weather forecast station - with the difference to forecasts and projections based on winds and possible cloud movements that these flowers predict the weather 100 percent correctly. But only for the next few hours. So the next time the question arises as to whether the grill can be fired up or not, you should take a look at one of the following plants - then you'll know exactly what you're going to do in the next few hours expected.
» By the way: there are even plants that give a relatively reliable indication of whether snowfall is to be expected early in the year or not. With which nature once again impressively proves that it is far ahead of humans.
Plants as weather messengers - How exactly does that work?
There are two ways flowers and other plants can announce rain or shine. One is an obvious change in the plant itself. When the flower changes, the plant moves or its image affects othersChanging the way you can see at first glance what kind of weather to expect in the next few hours - provided you know what to look out for,
But there are also plants that announce a change in the weather in a much more subtle way. For example, there is a whole range of plants that develop a much more intense smell when the air becomes more humid and warmer. If there is a thunderstorm in the air and you have such a plant in the garden, the garden will be filled with the scent of this plant. From this smell alone you can then already read what is very likely to happen today.
Ultimately you have to have an eye for the little wonders of nature. Because only those who know which plants to look out for and which smells are really interesting will be able to derive a reliable forecast for the next few hours from the changes in their garden at home.
What are these plants that "predict" the weather?
This very general question doesn't have an easy answer. There are flowers, perennials, trees, vegetables and all sorts of other types of plants that indicate an impending change in weather or rain or sun through more or less conspicuous characteristics. Here is a small list of plants to which this applies:
- the silver thistle
- marigolds
- chickweed
- mulleins
- Sorrel
- Sunflowers
- the wild carrot
- Cape Daisies
- Gazanie
- cranesbill
- pine cones
- Woodruff
- Birches
- Lime blossom
This list is certainly not exhaustive. But we want to use the plants mentioned here to show how you can get an overview of the upcoming weather in your own garden.
And this is how the weather forecast works in the garden
In general, a change in the weather is always associated with a change in humidity, temperature and air composition. What people do not immediately notice or sometimes just dismiss as a muggy day is an unmistakable sign of an impending change in the weather for plants and many animals. Some plants actually only react when the first drops fall. As a rule, however, the plants take their "information" about the upcoming weather from the humidity - and are usually completely correct. So it's worth checking out at least one of the plants mentioned aboveto plant a home garden. We have summarized below what you actually have to look out for with the individual plants.
Plants and their signs
The Silver Thistle
Characteristic of the silver thistle is its white-greyish bloom, which shimmers almost silver. And it is precisely this flower that shows what you can still expect from the weather during the day. If the flower is wide open, you can expect bright sunshine for the next few hours. Only when the blossom closes is there rain in the air. If the flower closes even though the sun is shining, a thunderstorm may even be approaching.
By the way, the wild silver thistle is one of the strictly protected plant species - but you can buy cultivated varieties for your home garden in specialist shops.
marigolds
As medicinal plants, marigolds are well known, but the yellow to orange flowers can do more than just make good ointments or teas. Marigolds are also wonderful as weather forecasters in your own garden. Because, just like the silver thistle, the marigold closes its bloom when rain threatens.
The Chickweed
Dismissed as a weed by many hobby gardeners and regularly removed from the garden, the chickweed can quickly and easily show what the weather will be like - if you see more in this plant than a fast-growing weed. Here, too, the flowers close when rain threatens.
» By the way: Chickweed is also ideal for planting as a ground cover. This not only protects soil areas from erosion, but also from drying out. And you always have your own little weatherman in sight in the garden.
mulleins
mulleins are also often referred to as weather candles, simply because this plant can do a lot more when it comes to weather forecasting than most other plants. For one thing, the way the mullein changes when the weather changes is very interesting. However, it requires a good eye and a certain amount of expertise to correctly interpret the changes in the plant. For example, you should be able to determine the cardinal points in your home garden. Because when the mullein tilts west, it's going to rain. If the tilt goes east, the sun will shine.
But the mullein can also make a completely different prediction. Experts agree that, based on their growth, mulleins give a clear indication of whether and if so, whenwinter snow will fall. If the mullein forms a leaf rosette, the lower leaves of which are very close together, this means that snowfall can be expected early this winter. When the leaves are close together at the top of the flower, snowfall is not expected until late in winter, usually the following year.
Sorrel
If the sorrel hangs its head, rain is imminent. The sorrel is a plant that even opens its own umbrella - but only just before it starts to rain or when the first drops are already falling. Sour clover erects its petioles and folds the leaves to protect the flower from too much water.
Sunflowers
Sunflowers don't just bear their name because their large yellow flowers resemble the sun. The buds only open fully when the sun is shining and will continue to do so for the next few hours. If the sunflower blossom does not open properly despite the sunshine, this is usually because showers are to be expected in the next few hours.
The wild carrot
The wild carrot is one of the ancestors of today's vegetable carrot as we know it and sometimes like to plant it in our own gardens. With the wild carrot you have to pay attention to the seed umbels. If these curve inwards, there is a risk of rain. If they are wide and straight, the sun will shine for the next few hours.
Cape Daisies
Cape daisies, or daisies as this plant is sometimes called, also close their flowers before the rain comes. With this plant, however, there is usually not too much time between the closing of the flowers and the actual start of the rain. So when the time comes for the flowers to close, you should react quickly.
» By the way: If you want to plant Cape Magerites in your garden, you should definitely do this after the Ice Saints - before that, the risk is too great that the flowers will be in the cold again enter.
Gazanie
Gazania, which has its origins in the vastness of the African steppe, is also called midday gold. The reason for this is that this plant only opens its flowers when the sun is shining. If the flowers remain closed, sunshine is not to be expected, even if it does not necessarily have to rain. Even when the sky is cloudy, the flowers remain closed here.
Gransbill
The cranesbill, which sometimes comes along with a bad smell, can actuallyserve as a kind of weather station. In order to determine how the weather will develop in the next few hours, you have to push the seed through a hole in a piece of cardboard so that the seed appendage sticks out slightly at the other end of the hole. If the seed process begins to turn clockwise, this is a sign of comparatively high humidity and impending rain.
pine cones
One plant that can serve as a weatherman all year round is the fir. Because a pine cone gives a lot of information about the upcoming weather development. If the scales of the pine cone are open, good weather can be expected. If the spigot is tightly closed, the weather will be rather unfriendly.
woodruff, birch and linden blossom
These three plants have one thing in common - when it gets warmer and more humid in the air, they develop a much stronger smell. Based on the smell of a birch, a linden tree or the woodruff plant, you can tell whether there is rain in the air or, if the smell is particularly intense, maybe even a thunderstorm is imminent.
Even if the weather report from television, radio, print media and the Internet is not always the most reliable - the weather forecast from your own garden is very reliable. If you know how to interpret them correctly. In any case, it is worthwhile to integrate one or the other of the plants mentioned above in your own garden. And not only because they can show how the weather is developing, but simply because most of the plants listed are also a real feast for the eyes.