Karin Bojs: Time to go out and scout at the wood anemones

There was a time when I was right cleared the face of sälgar. But that was before I got bees. Now I see sälgblomningen as this spring's biggest highlight. I'm sitting outside bikupornas opening and delight in the bees as they will fly in with small bright yellow balls on the thighs. As mimosablommor they look, the yellow clumps of sälgpollen. Some bees are so heavily loaded that they stumble on the runway.

Certainly, purely theoretically I have known for a long time to sälgen is of great importance for insektslivet. The center for biological diversity in Uppsala gave a few years ago out of a book called ”Willow – the most important breakfast”, and the I have read.

But it is another thing entirely to see the effect in reality. To sälgen literally is life's most important breakfast.

A sälgdrag at the right time means that my bees will survive the winter. And not only my bees, but thousands of other insects, such as bumblebees and butterflies.

When that realization sunk in was enhanced my eyes for sälgar in the surrounding area. Has the bloom started yet? How is it with hansälgarna, whose yellow flowers shine like a cloud. And with honsälgarna, with their more modest green flowers? Progress flowering still?

A bee with blue anemones. Photo: Sergei Grits/AP

since early childhood. I grew up in Gothenburg, in an area where the bedrock is acidic and blue anemone rare. But sometimes we celebrated easter with grandpa and grandma in Kalmar. There were lots of blue anemones, and they made an indelible impression on me when I was little.

And I'm probably not alone on that like Hepatica nobilis, which is currently blåsippans (much-disputed) scientific name. The last few weeks, many of my acquaintances stoltserat with vårfoton of blue anemones on social media. The sweden democrats have the flower as the party symbol.

another conservative party, the Christian democrats, had until a couple of years ago vitsippan as a symbol. It blooms a little later than anemone and a willow about when björkarnas leaves begin to crack up.

If björkarnas romantic charge – that can be studied in fine arts and lyrics – would you be able to talk much.

Birch forest. Photo: Berit Roald/TT

that wood anemones, blue anemones and birch trees, has deep roots in the Swedish national psyche. Very many people in our country recognize these plants.

Therefore, it is wise of the Swedish fenologinätverket and the Swedish botanical association to select the right leaf, hepatica and birch to the project Vårkollen.

The Swedish fenologinätverket is an ambitious research project with the Swedish university of agricultural sciences, SLU, which is the principal. Professional researchers are working together with amateurs across the country to identify the arrival of spring and the autumn's coming, the basis of plant and bird behavior.

To be fenologiväktare, amatörernas job is called, requires a part. You should have your eye on a number of species and be in place to be able to follow the plant development.

. Much easier. It only requires you to match six of the most common flowers and trees, and at a single time to report how far they have come in their development. The moment is now, the 30 april to 1 may. The report will fill you in on the website vårkollen.see.

Researchers can then use the results to see how climate change is affecting the vegetation in Sweden.

As a concerned private citizen, it is easy to pull large switches on temporary weather conditions. But professional scientists are not so, they look into the changes over the decades.

Now you have the chance to contribute to serious climate change, at the same time as you enjoy a out on walk. Six species are included in the Vårkollen: hepatica, leaf, coltsfoot, birch, willow and bird cherry. And if you don't recognise a bird cherry, or even willow, you can always fill in the answer choice ”not observed”.