WILL OLD MAN WINTER RETURN?

The demise of El Nino means a return to Old Man Winter, predicts Canadian Farmers' Almanac editor Peter Geiger. For Toronto he says, this winter is going to be icy, cold and snowy. Europeans are more likely to see another stormy winter, according to the slightly more scientific journal Science.

It doesn't look much better for future gardening in a good chunk of North America. In fact, early-onset spring models may indicate a 'nightmare' for agriculture and horticulture. Warm springs in the Great Lakes and Northeast regions--which create havoc for agriculture--may start earlier by mid-century if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced according to a new Cornell University study published in the journal Climate Dynamics. Worse could be yet to come. Separate studies published in Science and Geophysical Research Letters describe unprecedented disturbances disrupting the atmosphere's pacemaker.. The accuracy of seasonal forecasting could take a hit. Diversion No. 1 An award-winning Brit florist wows his community by a huge floral paradise in his front garden--but he can't see his own colourful designs because he's blind. Hundreds of passing strangers stop to admire Joe Robinson's blooming display at his terraced house in Crook, County Durham, but he will never get to see his work, explains The Daily Mail A newly discovered species of tomato belongs in a haunted house, not on a sandwich, suggests Sarah Schwartz writing in Science News. The fruit of the Australian Solanum ossicruentum is, like so much from the island continent, distinctly odd. The small fruit are protected by a prickly hard shell, probably latching onto the fur of passing mammals. Halloween-inspiring is the immature fruit. Within minutes of being sliced open, the sticky green-white flesh appears to bleed, flushing bright red to dark maroon. Later these fruit harden into dry capsules. The tomato's gruesome qualities inspired its name, explained Schwartz, courtesy of a group of Pennsylvania seventh-grade science studies. "Ossicruentum" combines the Latin words or "bone" and "bloody."

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Diversion No. 2 A 50-year-old Westerly, Rhode Island man who shot corncobs at his neighbour's home was charged with disorderly conduct and firing in a compact area, The Westerly Sun reported Supermarkets stocking indoor plants have been joined in recent years by chain hardware stores. And they are for the most part doing a good job about it. Not always so the purchasers. Sure light is a key--most do well in bright but indirect light. But it is incorrect watering which results in the doom of an estimated 80 percent of all such plants sold. Heft the container of smaller plants: if it is light, it is time to water, probably every day or so. Large floor plants can go far longer--often for weeks in winter--without water. An inexpensive moisture meter is a good investment for checking on conditions deep down in the soil. And use only room temperature water--how would you like an ice-cold shower? Diversion No. 3 It pays to know your wasps. Brett Smitheran was crowned the World Scrabble Champion after he drew the letters for "braconid," the world for a type of parasitic wasp that was good for 176 points [The New York Times] Gloom and doom usually prevails when it comes to many wildflowers. And so it seemed with Northern California's Mount Diablo buckwheat (Eriogonum truncatum), a pink flower that was thought to be extinct for 70 years. Then in 2005 a graduate student discovered a minute patch of 20 plants in the state park. Since then, researchers have attempted to increase the numbers by spreading up to 80,000 seeds in varied regions. Only about 200 plants resulted. Earlier this year, botanists announced the discovery of an additional half-acre amounting to almost 2 million E. truncatum plants. While remote, the exact location is being kept secret for fear of intruders. Fortunately it is never likely to become the fancy of florists or even home gardeners. But it is not out of the woods yet: climate change and risk of wild fires still threaten the existing populations. Diversion No. 4 Of course we celebrate Halloween in Canada. We put on our snow shoes, dress up as polar bears and go igloo to igloo collecting maple syrup and Canadian bacon! The origin of Halloween's pumpkin lanterns extends far back to the similarly purposed turnip lamps of northwestern Europe. A folk tale called The Smith and the Devil, about a blacksmith selling his soul in a pact with the Devil in order to gain supernatural abilities, was estimated to go back 6,000 years to the Bronze Age, according to researchers at Universities in Durham and Lisbon, publishing in the Royal Society Open Science journal.