The Aliens are Coming: plant life and the Greenhouse effect

'You will need some patience with this experiment, but after about two months you should find that hardly any of the cowslip seeds on the window-ledge have germinated.' To anyone attracted by this sort of instruction, this book presents a fascinating read as the author elaborates on his basic theme that plants grow best where they most enjoy the climate. Many of the plants in this country are aliens introduced from other climes and with global warming changing our climate we can expect our country's plant balance to change as well. Warmer winters will mean fewer cowslips and perhaps an invasion of warmth-loving Japanese Knotweed. Addressing the reader like the friendly lecturer he undoubtedly is, Gates reinforces every cardinal point with an equally friendly experiment - everything from making rain to counting daisies - and it's a good thing that some of these call for the use of a magnifier, for the illustrations are but poor scratchy sketches and far too small. That aside, the text is persuasive and should delight botanic boffins.