Vancouver Flower Clock Project

The Vancouver Flower Clock Project (VFCP) was initiated in October 2008 by ProximityArts, a non-profit interdisciplinary arts collective based out of Vancouver, British Columbia,  Canada. The project is based on a garden plan hypothesized by Carolus Linnaeus in his Philosophia Botanica(1751) that would take advatage of certain species of flowers that open their blooms at set times of day to accurately predict the time, in what he described as an horologium florae (floral clock).

As a collaborative naturalist's journal, The VFCP aims to create a collection of information that would aid particpants in the design and maintenance of a flower clock that is unique to the growing conditions and latitude of the Vancouver region and would also reflect the unique cultures of the region and their history with these plants. The project stresses the importance of regional botany, information sharing and the interweaving of aesthetic and scientific observation.



How to Participate
If you live outside of the Greater Vancouver Regional District you can use this page as a template and start a similar project in your region. If you live in the GVRD, there are a number of ways you can help develop this project. If you are new to wiki take the |The original Tour for Newcomers

Add to the list of species
In Philosophia Botanica, Linnaeus described three groups of flowers: Only Aequinoctales are suitable for use in a flower clock. If you are aware of any species with this trait, please add it to the Species List below using this template:
 * Meteorici - flowers which change their opening and closing times according to the weather conditions.
 * Tropici - flowers which change their times for opening and closing according to the length of the day.
 * Aequinoctales - flowers which have fixed times for opening and closing.


 * [[Image:image name here|left|80px|]]


 * Botanical Name


 * Common Name


 * /Plant name/



Add to the Species Journal
Take a walk. Watch the flowers grow. You can use these journals to log a bloom sighting, and post information about each species. You can include measurements, stories, pictures, recipes as well as indicate whether a bloom was open or closed at a specific time.

For a new species journal, copy and paste /Journal Template/ onto a new page with the format "plant name"

News and Events
PROJECT LAUNCH TEA PARTY Sunday JUNE 21, 2009 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Blim 197 17th Ave. E Vancouver

By Donation

Drop by for a wiki tutorial, a flower tour of the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood and to learn more about the project.

Bring your laptops, digital cameras or a pencil and paper.

Free cucumber sandwiches and homemade lemonade!

Project Background Info

 * Carl Linnaeus
 * Linnaeus' flower clock
 * Online text of Philosophia Botanica


 * Garden Design


 * Ethnobotany


 * Flowering Plants

Plant Identification

 * E-Flora BC-Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columia

Climate and Local Growing Conditions
Vancouver's hardiness zone ranges from 6b-7b depending on altitude and proximity to the coast.


 * Vancouver's Climate

Participants

 * Proximityarts

Species List
Use /Journal Template/ when adding a new journal.

Aequinoctales
The current list is based on Linneaus observations in Philosophica Botanica.

Local Additions
Include Species not indicated above. Use /Journal Template/ when adding new species.