Yuccas, olives and banana trees are starting to grace our town centre gardens as householders resign themselves to summer droughts, if not this year then in years to come, the Times reports today.
Organisers of the National Gardens Scheme, the annual invite to visit choice, private gardens, say gardeners are giving up on traditional cottage favourites like primroses and lupins and opting instead for plants that need less water.
But how will our native wildlife react with fewer native plants to rely on, especially if, as the NGS predicts, house-building pressures make our gardens even smaller?
The NGS recommends ponds and green roofs for starters, as new, or not so new, havens for wildlife.
And we at the RSPB are working on new advice for gardeners on wildlife-friendly, drought-resistant plants that could accompany these extra garden features.
Many people already have silver birch trees, which are good for birds, moths and ladybirds, buddleia - the butterfly bush - and holly bushes – much sought by holly blue butterflies and berry-eating birds but also vulnerable in soggy winters.
And next to those you could plant hawthorns, berberis and cherry laurels together with aspen, broom and gorse, and the exotic Oregon grape.
These plants will provide a range of food and sheltering areas for a variety of wildlife from dormice to bumblebees to nesting whitethroats.
So, climate change does not mean that all is lost. While bananas and olives are of little use to garden birds, there are plenty of drought-resistant plants that are. And garden centres will not be slow to clock the demand for different plants so they should not be too difficult to get hold of.
Click here for the Times report
And here for the RSPB's wildlife garden guide