Climate change in the garden

Most of us have known for decades that we live on a warming planet caused by carbon dioxide emissions, so last week’s heat wave should not have been a surprise. Even so, 109 degrees was a profound shock.

Our gardens were as miserable as we were. Roses, rhododendrons and poppies were scorched. Leaves went limp. Many of us – myself included – spent late nights and early mornings running up our water bills and feeling doomed and depressed.

By mid-week, it was time to pull up the last of the going-to-seed spinach and give it to the chickens. There was a sad premature goodbye to the pea vines, a deep sigh, and then thoughts about planting less heat-averse greens like kale, collard greens and chard. Those hearty and hardy greens, planted now, will continue to bear even through much of the winter.

Unpredictable weather has always been the bane of farmers and gardeners. Over the 10,000 years or so since humans figured out how to plant seeds and become partners with nature, humans have always adapted to change.

Now that we know that our climate is becoming both hotter and more unpredictable, the question is not just whether we can adapt again; it’s whether we can adapt fast, and then adapt again and again and again. It isn’t as if there will be a new normal we can adjust to. There just won’t be a normal. We will live and garden in the midst of constant uncertainty because climate change is now incremental and inevitable. Each year may be different than the last, not just in rising temperatures, but also in the timing and quantity of rainfall and the likelihood of more severe storms.

These changes – and this level of unpredictability – are already baked in our cake; they will happen for decades to come even if we succeed at making major reductions in global carbon emissions in the next 20 or 30 years. This is the consequence of being way too slow to respond to a known danger.

So what is a gardener to do? First, grieve that it’s come to this. Second, reflect on our role – as gardeners and as citizens in a democracy that gives us a voice in our future.

Third, plan. As we walk around our gardens, it’s time to pay attention to which plants coped and which suffered in the heat. It’s time to think about how to make our gardens more resilient and diverse, so that even if one crop fails, we have others that will flower or put food on our tables.

Our plants – both vegetable and ornamental – are trying their best. On two of my favorites, open flowers were scorched, but the buds that opened after the severe heat had passed look fine. Now that’s resilience. By the end of the week, they helped me recover from being mired in my dark thoughts about climate change.

A wise elder once said to me, “Grieve your losses and then move on.” The “moving on” part of that challenges us to gather our wits, and to use all our skills as gardeners and citizens to adapt to our changing future, and to push for making that future livable.

Jill Severn writes from her home in Olympia, where she grows vegetables, flowers and a small flock of chickens. She loves conversation among gardeners. Start one by emailing her at jill@theJOLTnews.com