Tag Archives: climate change

Design trends

Flowers Adapt to a Changing Climate

These cultivated violas look similar to the field pansy in the study.

On this rainy day I’m picturing my garden and deck this summer filled with colorful flowers. The bumblebees will be happy, the hummingbirds will be happy, I’ll be happy. Or will I?

I recently read about a study in France that suggests that humans are quickly altering the way flowers are reproducing and it’s happening in just 20 generations. Toxic pesticides and vanishing habitats have driven down the populations of bees and other pollinators so some flowers have evolved to fertilize their own seeds more often than the seeds of other plants.

Bumblebee populations have declined and it may be that the field pansy flowers in the study are investing their energy into using their own pollen to fertilize their own seeds more, rather than produce big flowers that lure pollinators.

The researcher in the study, Dr. Cheptou an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Montpellier, was inspired to carry out the study when it became clear that bees and other pollinators were in drastic decline. How would flowers adapt? Would they find another way to reproduce?

The field pansies have always been able to reproduce using both methods. But a selfing flower can use only its own genes to produce new seeds. Sexual reproduction allows flowers to mix their DNA, creating new combinations that make them better prepared for diseases, drought and other challenges that future generations may face.

Tracking the evolution of the field pansy was made possible by the cache of seeds from the National Botanical Conservatory in France collected in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The researchers compared these old flowers with the new ones found in the countryside. After growing the new and old seeds side by side in the lab under identical conditions, they discovered that selfing had increased 27 percent since the 1990s.

Other changes of note were that although the new field pansies had not changed in their overall size, their flowers had shrunk by 10 percent and produced 20 percent less nectar.

So this change in reproduction may be making a bad situation worse for pollinating insects. The genetic limitation of selfing could put plants at risk of extinction.

Flowering plants are dealing with other issues such as global warming which speeds up the growth of the flowers and shrinks the window of time before the flower wilts and has nectar for pollinators.

Another study, however, on morning glories in the southern United States, found that between 2003 and 2012, the flowers became bigger, not smaller. Is this a strategy to keep attracting bees as they become less common?

Being an optimist I’m hoping that nature will adapt and figure out how to keep everybody happy.

Design trends

Earth Day Facts to Ponder

This year Earth Day is focusing on climate change. Earth Day is always a celebration of the natural beauty of our planet reminding us that we need to keep it healthy. Always on April 22nd, Earth Day is a day of education about environmental issues. So plant a tree, clean up litter, garden, hike in the woods, marvel at emerging wildflowers, be in contact with the soil and breathe fresh air outside on this day.

The affects of climate change have been front and center for us here in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Few of us anticipated that we would have storm after storm hit us – 31 atmospheric river storms starting last December. The intensity and duration of these storms caused record snowfall and deadly flooding. According to UCLA climate scientist, Daniel Swain, there isn’t a clear cut answer as to what caused the wet weather. “It could be anything from Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption last spring which injected a record breaking amount of water vapor into the stratosphere…it could be an unusual transition from La Niña to El Niño.. it could be bad luck.” Whatever the reason, the effects of climate change are here to stay.

Celebrate Earth Day in your own backyard by being outside. It’s your own personal outdoor living room – a safe place for pets and kids to play. Just get outside, maybe trim some shrubs, plant something for the birds and pollinators. When you become a steward of your own yard, you are helping to preserve you own corner of the ecosystem. Our connection to the earth is one of the most valuable lessons we can share with our children.

In a garden, children can breathe fresh air, discover bugs and watch things grow. And, of course, a garden offers kids and everyone else fresh, tasty homegrown food. What better place for kids to play than in a place where they can use their hands and connect with the earth? Where else can they make a plan for a plot of land and learn the lessons of hope and wonder, suspense and patience and even success and failure? In a garden you can have conversations about life and even death in a way that doesn’t seem so sad.

Finding things to do in the garden is easy. You probably already have some edible flowers in your garden. Tuberous begonia petals taste like lemon. Calendulas are spicy as are carnations and marigolds. Dianthus are clove-flavored, nasturtiums give a hint of horseradish and violas, pansies, hollyhock, squash blossoms and johnny-jump-ups taste like mild lettuce. You can also freeze flowers like violas, fuchsias, geranium, stock and thyme in ice cubes.

Flowers that kids can cut will be interesting for them, too, especially when planted in their own garden. Cosmos, planted from six packs, provide instant color as well as attracting butterflies. Zinnias come in a rainbow of colors and are a favorite of swallowtail butterflies. Another easy to grow flower for cutting is the snapdragon.

Besides flowers, fragrant foliage plants like lemon basil, lemon verbena, lime thyme, orange mint and other herbs engage the senses and can be included in a kid’s garden.

Pet-able plants are a sure hit with kids. Usually we tell them, “Don’t touch”, so to actually have someone encourage this is a rare treat. If your own garden doesn’t have plants that look and feel so soft that you can’t resist petting them, consider adding lamb’s ears which are soft and furry, artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ or fountain grass.

All kids love lady bugs. Make your garden a more inviting place for these and other beneficial insects by planting lots of flowers and herbs to attract them. Lady bugs will patrol your plants looking for tiny insects and their eggs. Flowers with umbrella shaped clusters of small flowers such as cosmos, zinnia, black-eyed Susan and yarrow are favorites of butterflies.

Kid friendly gardens should not contain plants that are poisonous. Sounds like a no-brainer but even some of our common natives like the berries of snowberry and the leaves of Western azalea are poisonous. Non-toxic plants include abelia, abutilon, liriope, butterfly bush, Hens and Chicks, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis and black-eyed Susan. Better to check the poison control website if in doubt. http://www.calpoison.org and search “plants”.

To share one’s excitement and knowledge of the outdoor world with a child is fun and rewarding. The wonder on a young person’s face as they discover a swallowtail butterfly, a flower just starting to open or a bird feeding in the garden is priceless. And be sure to leave some time after a busy day out in the garden for kids to draw what they’ve enjoyed outside.

Get a kid into gardening and nature and they’ll be good stewards of the land for a lifetime. Plus you’ll have a lot of fun in the process.

Design trends

Phenology in the Garden

When daffodils begin to bloom sow sweet peas.

The daffodils are blooming. Will spring be early this year? When will I no longer need to worry about the danger of frost? How much is climate change affecting our natural world? We can all remember years when there is little rain in January and February and it feels like the Bahamas around here. Then there’s this year. Well, I don’t need to tell you about our weather this winter. But what are the plants around here doing? Leafing out early? How about those invasive plants around your yard?
Look to phenology indicators to give you some insight.

Phenology – not to be confused with phrenology which claims that bumps on the head predict mental traits – is the study of key seasonal changes in flowering times, emergence of insects and migration of birds from year to year. When do they occur each year? Phenology is a real science that has many applications. In farming and gardening, phenology is used chiefly for planting times and pest control. Predictions for fire season are based on factors pertaining to weather as well as plant growth. Certain plants give a cue, by blooming or leafing out, that it’s time for certain activities, such as sowing particular crops or insect emergence and pest control. Often the common denominator is the temperature.

Websites like USA National Phenology Network at http://www.usanpn.org/ offer lots of information on the subject. The US Global Change and Research Program released the first 14 indicators of climate change. Among these is the Start of Spring indicator on this website which reflects the accumulation of heat sufficient to initiate leafing and flowering in temperature sensitive plants. Your own observations via Nature’s Notebook will help contribute to this research.

Indicator plants are often used to look for a particular pest and manage it in its most vulnerable stages. They can also be used to time the planting of vegetables, apply fertilizer or prune. Here are some common garden plants and what they indicate:

When dandelions bloom, plant spinach, beets and carrots.

When daffodils begin to bloom, sow peas.
When dandelions bloom, plant spinach, beets and carrots.
When lilac leaves are the size of a mouse’s ear, sow peas, lettuce and other cool-weather crops.
When lilacs are in full bloom, plant beans.
Once lilacs have faded, plants squash and cucumbers.
When apple trees shed their petals, sow corn.
When dogwoods are in full bloom, plant tomatoes, peppers and early corn.
When bearded iris are in bloom, plant peppers and eggplants.
When locust and spirea bloom, plant zinnia and marigolds.

When forsythia and crocus bloom, crabgrass is germinating. When this happens the soil temperature at a depth of 4 inches is 55 degrees. Treat with an organic pre-emergent.
When crocus bloom, prune roses and feed your lawn.
Mexican bean beetle larvae appear when foxglove flowers open.

Record your own observations. Another great site is National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service at http://attra.ncat.org. Sites like these can also help you design orchards for pollination and ripening sequence, design for bee forage plantings, design perennial flower beds and wildflower plantings as well as plantings to attract beneficial insects and enhance natural biological control. How cool is that?