A potential hosepipe ban could spell the end, says a rare plant collector who has spent 25 years transforming suburban gardens into tropical jungles. I am concerned.
Mike Clifford Over the decades, a rare 65-foot-long lot behind his bungalow in Poole, Dorset, collected from around the world Filled with plants.
To protect them from the impending drought, the 61-year-old has stored his 2,000 liters of rainwater.
Due to the dense population of species native to South America, Central America, Africa and China,his garden needs a lot of water.
However, Mike's efforts may not be enough, as some plants accustomed to a warm, wet climate are "withering" before his eyes due to lack of rain. not.
A father of one said: Many plants, like ginger, are early bloomers.
"Normally, we expect flowers to bloom in September just a few weeks before we need to pack up for winter, so it's nice to be able to enjoy them a little earlier.
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"But plants with large leaves don't like the heat. They wil badly. If you go there at noon, you can see it happening.
'I water them a lot, but I'm trying to reduce it.I buried water butts 4 feet underground. But we're nearing the end of the season, so as long as I get to September, I'll be happy."
Mike, who lives with his wife of 36 years, Tina, started a TV show about gardening in the 1990s. Look, I thought I'd start gardening.
Since then, the couple have cultivated thousands of seeds. Most of them come from seeds.
Their gardens are home to giant dandelions from the Canary Islands and his Pararistolochia goldieana, a Central African plant that flowered only once in Europe.
There are also angelic trumpets, whose hallucinogenic properties were traditionally used by shamans in South and Central America to conjure visions. has seen several new additions come to fruition, including the incredibly rare St. Helena Ebony, or Trochetiopsis ebenus, which is endangered in the wild.
A four-foot-tall plant with broad white flowers, a scientist believes he has two small plants It was thought extinct until it was found attached to two of his small plants. Mexican rock.
Mike takes care of the plants in the evenings and weekends alongside his full-time mobile home design job.
He sent an email to webnews@metro.co.ukto contact his news team.
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