As you experience the seasons, if you live in a place with such things, the greenery tends to adapt and change with the temperature and climate. Sometimes there are delightful little flowers, sometimes there is withering heat, sometimes there is crazy snow and you can make fun little shelters and play in the street. You can usually only experience one of these phenomena at a time, because Mother Nature wants you to dole out your appreciation.

Then scientists were like, nah let's have flowers all year! So some spent about a decade developing a new specimen of the petunia plant, which rather than dying at the first frost, survives in below zero temperatures (down to -10C) and continues to flower through the winter months. This hearty plant will come in six different shades of pink, purple, and red and boasts the wherewithal to live through snowfall. The scientists tested this plant at Mount Vesuvius in Italy because of its chilly winters, and not as a subconscious reminder of the powerful wrath of nature.

Approximately 6,000 miles away in Alberta, Canada, some other scientists had a similar set of goals: taking something that doesn't want to be around for our enjoyment anymore and making it stay. Through harnessing certain bacteria, scientists at the University of Alberta are on their way to creating a mold-resistant bread, one that will actually require fewer preservatives. Other researchers, at a company in Texas called MicroZap has created bread that will stay fresh for two months by zapping the loaves with microwaves to destroy any mold spores.

Alternatively, one could rely on centuries old skills of expectation management about when plants are available and how long bread usually lasts.

[Fast Company/Daily Mail, image via Trudy Simmons/Shutterstock]