US: Global warming is likely to have a dramatic effect on gardens, according to plant scientists.
Warmer but wetter winters may lengthen the growing season and also make the northern climes more acceptable to hitherto southern-loving plants.
As temperatures and carbon dioxide levels rise, flowers from roses to rhododendrons are likely to grow bigger and earlier. Autumn will become a new flowering season as gardens come to life after summer droughts, according to New Scientist magazine. Winter flower beds could become a "riot of colour", peaches could replace apples and grapevines could flourish far further north than they have before.
But not everything in the garden will be lovely, members of the American Society for Horticultural Science were told at a meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, in the US. For although favourite varieties of flowers and shrubs might grow 50 per cent faster, weeds will often outpace them.
Pests would also be more prolific since summer droughts would provide perfect conditions for aphids and mites. Diseases currently confined to the greenhouse would venture outside, while others would expand their territories.