Whilst the UK freezes, temperatures in parts of the USA have been exceptionally high – Central Park saw almost 60F on Thursday 2nd February. This map shows shows unseasonably warm temperatures soaring across the continental U.S. this week.

Trees and plants budding early may lose their chance to bloom when the inevitable deep freeze returns, said U.S. Geological Survey ecologist Jake Weltzin, who heads a national network that monitors the timing of spring for plants and animals. He said peach trees are budding in Georgia and in Oklahoma forsythia and daffodils have been out for two weeks now, adding ‘it’s happening everywhere.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095211/Warm-weather-wreaks-havoc-hibernating-animals-US-basks-unseasonably-high-temperatures.html#ixzz1lSWX3ewd

Thought I would share them with you:

Weather Forecasting 

The science of telling, with 70% accuracy, what the weather has just been

Climate Control 

 An essential decrease in consumerism to avoid climatic catastrophe

Water Companies

A business that sells back the rain that falls on you.

Launched on 25th January 2012, the new Arbor Day.org Hardiness Zone Map separates America  into ten different temperature zones  and reflects that many areas have become warmer since 1990 when the last USDA hardiness zone map was published. Significant portions of many states have shifted at least one full hardiness zone. Much of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, for example, have shifted from Zone 5 to a warmer Zone 6. Some areas around the country have even warmed two full zones..

These long-awaited changes  show northward warming trends, while also targeting a few colder areas in the mountains. Growers in climates where warmer is the new norm can grow species of plants that would have perished in a colder zone.

“I think it will lead people to experiment with many plants they might not have otherwise,” says Steve Carroll, director of public programs at the State Arboretum of Virginia in Boyce, Va. “Nurseries might stock differently. We could see it will have an impact on all kinds of things in the garden world.”

The “hardiness” guide, last updated in 1990, lists average minimum temperatures for different latitudinal zones. Each zone is based on 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Two new zones were added in hotter climates this year for a total of 13 zones. 1 is coldest (-60 to -50). 13 is hottest (60 to70) and is found only on Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

This new map uses 30 years of weather data gathered from 1976 to 2005 and is more precise than the 1990 version, showing smaller areas and accounting for higher elevations and bodies of water that can influence temperature. It has been designed for the Web and allows people to enter their ZIP code to see their zone down to half-mile segments.

http://www.arborday.org/media/zones.cfm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/story/2012-01-26/USDA-climate-zone-map/52787142/1

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/01/long-overdue-plant-hardiness-map-hothouse

The finding continues a trend in which nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000.
 http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html

Time to consider different trees/plants to plan for a warmer yet unpredictable future?

 Love these lemons growing outdoors in Cornwall last summer.

Having just blogged about planting seeds to” grow bread” in the garden, I thought I should point out that actually reducing the size of your lawn is the path to a greener garden.With increasing pressure on water supplies and the need to reduce carbon emissions,  reducing our lawns – or maybe getting rid of them completely -  is becoming an extremely topical issue.

In the USA, 58 million Americans spend £30 billion a year maintaining over 25 million acres of lawn. Add  a staggering 3 million tons of fertilisers and you can see why the move to reduce the number of lawns is really gathering momentum in America. This includes a national campaign  at http://www.foodnotlawns.com which is attracting interest from the green movement and equal amounts of  opposition from parties with a vested interest in the supply of turf and garden chemicals.

I realise that English gardens are defined by their immaculate lawns so opposition to foodnotlawns might be high in the UK. However, read these few facts to help decide whether your lawn stays or goes:

*  The pollution emitted from a power mower in just one hour is equal to the amount from a car being driven 45 miles. http://www.epa.gov/greenacres/wildones/handbk/wo8.html

*Lawns use ten times as many chemicals per acre as industrial farmland. Some 60% of all fertilisers and pesticides used on lawns run off into our groundwater and evaporate into the air, causing widespread pollution

* Lawns in the United States consume around 270 billion gallons of water a week—enough to water 81 million acres of organic vegetables, all summer long.In fact, lawns use more equipment, labour, fuel, and agricultural toxins than industrial farming, making lawns the largest agricultural sector in the United States.

* It’s not just the residential lawns that are wasted on grass. There are around 700,000 athletic grounds and 14,500 golf courses in the United States, many of which used to be fertile, productive farmland that was lost to developers when the local markets bottomed out.

 EXPLORE THESE IDEAS FOR REDUCING THE SIZE OF YOUR LAWN

Plant a hedge. The least-used parts of your lawn are most likely on the edge of your property. Create privacy and visual interest by planting a “tapestry hedge” with mixed shrubs.
• Build a pond, patio, or island bed in the center of your lawn. Create a visual focal point, a place for entertaining, or a habitat for attracting wildlife.
• Create a tree island. If you have one or more trees in the middle of your yard, chances are the grass that grows underneath isn’t that healthy. Why not plant ground cover, perennials, or woodland plants under your tree instead?[3]
• Devote part of your yard to wildflowers, drought-tolerant grasses, and other native plantings.
• Practice xeriscaping using plants to replace part of your water-hungry lawn

Explore this web-site for more inspirational ideas http://www.lesslawn.com/

http://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/plants-and-climate-change/

Just enjoying some chill time in my Garden House planning new developments for Climate Change Gardening in 2012.

Also reflecting on the bizarre weather the world has experienced during 2011. Watch this amazing Channel 4 documentary called “The Year the weather went wild” to discover interesting facts about how extreme weather is challenging our planet. http://www.channel4.com/info/press/programme-information/the-year-the-earth-went-wild

Happy Xmas to my visitors from all over the world.Please stay connected in 2012 to get involved with exciting opportunities to share your climate change gardening experiences.

As a world renowned scientist and the greatest living documentary film maker, we must listen to the warnings by this great man and think about how we can respond to the urgent need for everyone of us to care more about the state of our planet.

Sir David believes that people in towns and cities are losing touch with the “realities of the natural world”, which is putting the future of the planet at risk. The veteran wildlife presenter also highlights that  due to rapid urbanisation over the past 60 years, a growing number of people are not regularly coming into contact with the natural world. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/dec/01/nature-urbanisation-david-attenborough

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9ob9WdbXx0

Nature is a powerful force and and is the one thing in our lives that we just cannot control.Gardening is a great way for individuals to connect with the earth and nature and will play a crucial role in adapting our lives to climate change both now and in the uncertain future.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/23/apple-green-solar-data-centre

Speaking of trees, did you know that Google Earth now has an amazing 3D tree facility that lets you look at how trees compliment our cities. At the moment they only have certain locations like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Tokyo Berlin and Athens mapped but this amazing facility must be good for enhancing the current and future effect of trees for our planet and their importance in fighting climate change. http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/11/3d-trees-in-google-earth-6.html

Another great Google Earth offering is Climate Change in Our World, the product of a collaboration between Google, the UK Government and the Met Office Hadley Centre

Climate Change in Our World

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-change/guide/future/google-earth