Summer makes plants happy
By Cordelia Blanchett-Smith
HOPE Institute of Seasonal Botanical Wonders, Aix-en Provence, France.
Summer. A season to be jolly, for people to be outside in gardens, for tall cool drinks to be sipped quietly and holidays to be taken liberally.
However, if you’re a plant, then you can’t just up sticks (if you’ll excuse the botanical pun) and leave, (again, excuse the pun), you’re (quite literally) rooted to the spot.
You may think this sedentary lifestyle leads to a more depressing plant in the long-term, but our new research suggests that plants are always happy in the summer.
This all stems (sorry...) from the ancestral climate, and when plants were in their early stages of development and the weather was hot and sunny every day. Then we had the ice age (when plants had a bit of a hard time of it) and, shortly after that, the ice melted and we got back to more ambient temperatures - better all round.
With the summer in full swing over most of Europe, plants are once again rejoicing in the rays and several have been seen visibly moved to smiles. The main picture (left) was taken in the south of France and shows a moss that was ecstatic at basking in the sun.
Clearly, this rolling stone had gathered several mosses - but that is another story.
However, if you’re a plant, then you can’t just up sticks (if you’ll excuse the botanical pun) and leave, (again, excuse the pun), you’re (quite literally) rooted to the spot.
You may think this sedentary lifestyle leads to a more depressing plant in the long-term, but our new research suggests that plants are always happy in the summer.
This all stems (sorry...) from the ancestral climate, and when plants were in their early stages of development and the weather was hot and sunny every day. Then we had the ice age (when plants had a bit of a hard time of it) and, shortly after that, the ice melted and we got back to more ambient temperatures - better all round.
With the summer in full swing over most of Europe, plants are once again rejoicing in the rays and several have been seen visibly moved to smiles. The main picture (left) was taken in the south of France and shows a moss that was ecstatic at basking in the sun.
Clearly, this rolling stone had gathered several mosses - but that is another story.
Share this
