July 10, 200917 yr The future's lavender... Stunning picture shows how global warming is transforming Britain's fields By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 12:57 PM on 10th July 2009 Comments (0) Add to My Stories A lush carpet of lavender stretches as far as the eye can see. This amazing panorama shows how more of Britain will look as global warming prompts farmers to plant vast acres of the aromatic herb. The purple fields will vie with the now-familiar vivid vistas of yellow rape as Britain's rising temperatures make it easier to grow lavender, which flowers between June and August. Purple reign: Nicky Plant surveys a sea of bright purple at Snowshill Lavender farm in the Cotswolds Charlie Byrd first planted lavender at his Snowshill Lavender Farm in the Cotswolds, Worcestershire, as a test in 2000. The crop proved so successful he now grows 53 acres every year, selling the extracted essential oils for toiletries and aromatherapy products. The transformation comes as naturalists launch a massive conservation project that shows how our landscape may have looked before the advent of modern farming methods. Dazzling: Sunflowers form the centrepiece of the massive wildflower meadow that will become the home to Butterfly World Britain's biggest wildflower meadow, opened today at Chiswell Green near St Albans, Hertfordshire, was welcomed by naturalist David Bellamy. Covering 20 acres and containing tens of millions of plants, in two years' time it will feature Britain's biggest biodome - Butterfly World, housing thousands of tropical butterflies. No fewer than 65 different flower species from around the world surround a centrepiece of 250,000 sunflowers. Overwhelmed: TV naturalist David Bellamy stands in the wildflower meadow near St Albans, Hertfordshire Bellamy said: 'This is just an incredible place. You can be in the middle of a quarter of a million sunflowers and really feel like you're in a different world.' Industrial equipment was used to spray a mix of seeds, seaweed and water directly onto the soil, designer and head gardener Ivan Hick said. 'This demonstrates how a wildflower meadow can flourish in a heavily polluted atmosphere,' he said. Enlarge 'We have created an immediate nectar transfusion for the butterflies, bees and insects.' The meadow is surrounded by a butterfly carved into the chalk under the soil - a display so large it is visible from planes flying into Heathrow.
July 10, 200917 yr Get with the times all stats point to global cooling now...its been happening for a little while now, average temps are dropping...Guess we better watch out before we freeze to death...
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