Is it snow?

This week has seen a big change in the weather.  No more kidding myself that it is spring or autumn, winter has arrived.  It is early for it to be so cold here in Lazio

On Monday I drove to Rome, I chose the road that goes over the Cimini hills (mountains) they aren’t that high so it rather depends where you come from whether you consider them mountains or hills, the highest point on the road is 850 m.  It was cold but also beautifully sunny, as I was driving I saw in the distance the snow tipped peak of Monte Amiata, but that’s higher than the Cimini and way off in Tuscany so I didn’t change my mind about my route.  Mistake!  As I climbed the trees began to be sprinkled with white.  Was it frost?  Then it became clear, the trees were coated in a thick layer of snow; it was amazingly beautiful and I regret not taking any photographs, but I thought the road was too dangerous to stop.  Cars coming in the opposite direction were driving very slowly and as I neared the highest point (860 m) there was a group of Carabinieri, stopping the traffic, saying the road was closed due to ice!  So I retraced my steps and took a lower road to arrive at my destination an hour late on a journey that should have taken 50 minutes!

Then yesterday, Wednesday when the forecast said it would be sunny, it first rained and then hailed, huge pieces of ice some about the size if a marble, others smaller – and it was so cold that many remained on the ground for two days!

Hail stones on the window cill

Hailstones on the terrace

Hail in the garden

White fields of hail stones

Today garden is white with frost, the clipped Lavender looking lovely outlined in white; but some intervention is needed; the lemons and limes that I had already moved from the north east side of the house to the west side to avoid the cold north wind (Tramontana) now need to be moved into the greenhouse, so a little rearranging is also called for there.

Lavender in the formal garden white with frost

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End of Month View

Time again to join Helen the Patient Gardener for her end of month view.

May and June are usually the best months for me; the weather is warm enough to enjoy meals outside, the garden is full of flower and everything is lush and full.  May was almost like this, but there were cool evenings which meant no meals outside.  The beginning of June was very windy so again not many meals outside and the plants in the garden took quite a battering.  In the middle of the month the temperatures soared AND there were hot winds!

I usually delay turning on the automatic irrigation (except to the vegetable garden) for as long as possible; 1, because I want the plants to become tough and search out water deep down and 2, as all the water comes from a well 100 m deep there is considerable cost in terms of electricity to pump the water to the surface.

As it was cool in May, especially at night, there was always dew on the ground each morning so I felt it correct to wait before beginning the irrigation this year.  With hindsight this was a mistake; the desiccating effects of the wind were pulling water up out of the ground via the leaves.  When I went to Prague I didn’t want to begin irrigating without being there to make sure there were no damaged pipes (there was one so I was right about that).  The wind became even stronger and the temperature rose to 37° – 39° Celsius over those four days and when I returned the garden was scorched, I used the term “flame gun” and this wasn’t really an exaggeration.  The irrigation is on now, I have been hand-watering to try to help some of the plants that were really suffering, but with temperatures now pretty much set for the next six to eight weeks the summer hibernation of the garden has started early!  Some plants do continue to bloom with minimum irrigation and I’ll be showing those over the next weeks.

Some plants will reward me with abundant blooms with very little water.  Rosa mutablibis is one that only needs minimum water to flower almost continuously.  Gaura lindheimeri is another that with just a little irrigation or run off from nearby roses flower profusely.  The groundcover Verbena near the terrace is flowering much more than usual because I’ve been watering pots on the terrace and water has run off from there to reach them.

Ground cover verbena benefits from a little irrigation to ensure it flowers all summer

Figs grow all around the Mediterranean and I’ve seen them growing out of cliffs with no soil, but mine needs water every year!  In past years this hasn’t occurred until August, but just look at my poor tree, and this was even before the last week of June; the first crop of figs hasn’t been harvested yet although any day now some should be ready.

Poor tree, it must have lost half its leaves

Crumpled, yellow and brown, the fallen leaves under the fig tree

Rosa Rimosa again has had only run off water from watering pots on the terrace is giving a great second display.

See more about this good tempered rose here.

However the grasses are beginning to light up the garden, especially in the evening when the last rays of the sun shine through their flowers.

Pennisetum villosum lighting up the garden

Another Pennisetum, possibly Karly

June is the month for Lavender and the sound of bees buzzing all day collecting nectar and of butterflies fluttering and dancing in the air above.

With the extra pruning this year I can just squeeze through the lavender surrounding the formal beds

A honey bee doing what they do best!

Silver-Studded Blue Plebejus argus

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GBBD November

The weather is still very good for gardening, last Saturday the wind changed direction, the tramontana, or the wind from the north (or literally the wind from the mountains) was blowing; this is what I call a lazy wind, because rather than go around, it goes straight through you!  The sun is still shining and so it is still pleasant to be outside if you’re protected from the wind.  By Monday it was lovely again, warm, sunny and a real joy to be in the garden

I think there are as many, if not more, flowers blooming as there were in October.  Even the Philodelphus has a couple of flowers.

In my last post I asked whether it was spring or autumn; there is still a lot of new growth on many shrubs but all of the trees have either lost their leaves or their leaves have changed colour so the answer to my question is now it is autumn.

Almost every variety of rose I have has blooms; outstanding are the usual suspects of Rosa mutabilis plus R. Molineaux which looks as good as in spring and R. China Rose – this was given to be by a friend as a rooted cutting it is today looking wonderful, I had been thinking of moving it but until I’ve taken some cuttings myself and know that they have taken I don’t think I would want to risk losing it.

R.Molineaux covered in blooms

A perfect bloom, not autumn looking at all

It’s companion planting of Hemerocallis Sol d’oro.

R. China Rose

and in close up

I love the light at this time of year – it is so bright (difficult for photographs) and lower in the sky so it lights up the grasses all day and not just in the evening as in summer.

Back border

Reading about gardens in other parts of the world where there has already been frost or snow makes me realise how lucky I am enjoying this extra-long season of good weather.  I’ve only just put the heating on in the last couple of days and then only for a couple of hours in the evening.

I have been changing a small area around the Arbutus.  It had a strange mix of oddments that I’d put there when I didn’t know where else to plant them; I wanted to have an area with Asters for autumn interest, I also realised looking at images for recent posts that I have quite nice mix of plants all with crimson blooms, I have decided to put them all here adding to an Oleander and Salvia of that colour.  The rose will be to be moved later in winter but I’ve moved a Penstemon (a cutting from Linda’s garden in the West) and divided some claret achillea’s to extend the period of interest, so this area will be crimson all summer hopefully, next autumn I’ll put in some crimson tulips too to stretch the season even more.

Penstemon, just moved and looking a little sad

Salvia, such difficult plants to photograph

R. ? Braithwaite

Achilliea

Click on the image below to see all the blooms in My Hesperides Garden this month.

Thanks to Carol at MayDreams Garden for hosting GBBD, why not visit her and then see what’s blooming in gardens all around the world.

Don’t forget to join in Garden Bloggers Foliage day on the 22nd November, I really look forward to seeing all the lovely autumn colour and the spring foliage from the southern hemisphire

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June GBBD

The hot weather of the last two months has continued but we have had some rain; mostly as showers that occur in the late afternoon.  I have a least been able to turn the irrigation off for several days.  Almost all the images of the flowers blooming today have rain drops on their petals as you’ll see from the slide show.

The garden feels much more like mid or high summer than June.  Lavender is flowering and is overflowing onto the pathways, meaning that when I walk through the garden I brush against it releasing the heady perfume. Many of the roses have finished their first flowering; some are already showing signs of being ready to start again.  R. x odorato ‘Mutabilis’ is flowering again as is R. Stanwell Perpetual, R. Sophie’s Perpetual.  R. Queen of Sweden already had new shoots growing below each previous bloom and even some buds; even before I had dead-headed it.  R. ‘Clair Matin’ on the pillars also has lots of new growth with buds, there have always been some flowers from when it started to flower in early May.  Pierre di Ronsard is situated on a north facing pillar and so this is the first flowers.  William Shakespeare is still being generous with new flowers opening.

R. William Shakespeare

I have been tying in the long waving shoots of the Wisteria which also has lots of secondary flowers. These Lilies are flowering for the third year in these pots, without any extra food or change of soil – that’s great value.  Their growth is stronger too after the first year and don’t now need staking as they did when first planted.

Regal Lillies

Self-sown Verbascum are very impressive; all are taller than when they grow in the fields around the house, this one is about 2.3 m tall!

I planted some ornamental Verbascum as I realised last year when I saw all the wild ones around that they would be happy and perform well.  In spring I sowed a very old packet of V. Phoenician Hybrids, they need potting on so they will be good size plants for planting out in autumn.

Teucrium hyrcanicum is new for me this year and I am enjoying its kitten tail flowers very much.  They contrast well with Hemerocallis ‘Stella d’Oro’ and another paler yellow Hemerocallis.  I also like their strong form against the softer form of Nepeta.

I planted a stream of Allium sphaerocephalon through the large island last autumn and they are now opening from green tight heads to deep crimson drum sticks.

There are others in the garden flowering for a second year and also others that have self-seeded.   As you will see from the slide show when you click on the image below there are several starry white flowers, they are: Jasminum officinale, Trachelospermum, and Solanum jasminoides ‘Album’

Upper drive border

Today is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day when gardeners from all over the world post about what is blooming in their gardens; why not visit Carol at May Dreams Garden who hosts this meme.  So whether its early summer or early winter with you have a great GBBD.

&©Copyright 2011 Christina. All rights reserved. Content created by Christina for My Hesperides Garden.

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End of the Month Review, January 2011

Realistically I have done very little in the garden this month.  I did prune all the Wisteria on the pillars around the terrace and also the roses there too.  The vegetable garden is tidy and waiting for better weather to plant the onions I bought (I’m hoping they haven’t dried out since I bought them.  I may have already mentioned that the garlic I planted at the beginning of the month are all shooting but all have pushed up out of the soil just as the book said they would if they were planted at the new moon (and that was exactly when I planted them).  Note to self – check the book before you plant rather than just after!  I hope it won’t make too much difference to them.  A winter crop I’ve been thrilled with is Broccoli – The first main heads were excellent but what has surprised me is that they have continued to produce secondary and 3^rd, 4^th and I think even 5^th heads, I will plant even more next year as they are one of my favourite vegetables and also make a great sauce for pasta and delicious risotto.

My exciting news is that I’ve decided to buy a greenhouse (known as a serra in Italian.  Because gardening is not the hobby here as it is in the UK it has not been easy to find information about greenhouses at all and even more difficult to actually see one before committing to buying!  On Saturday I saw a display model and was impressed with the quality.  I think they are more expensive here because so few are sold but I’m looking forward now to ordering and having this useful addition to the garden.  My main use will be to over winter Lemon plants (I don’t have them yet) that I want for the terrace – the perfume of lemon flowers and the joy of picking my own lemons will be wonderful.  I will also look for some limes as they are difficult to buy here and essential when cooking Thai curries. I also want to extend the season for peppers and aubergines and maybe tomatoes.  It will also give me the opportunity to grow some plants from seed – for varieties that I can’t buy as plug plants.  Again another ingredient of Thai recipes Holy Basil is one of the plants I’d like to grow and maybe Lemon grass too.

I’d also like to experiment some different flowers for cutting – but I’ll have to be patient and see what the possibilities are.

At present I don’t grow Pelargoniums but they are something that would flower in mid-summer when most other things are in summer dormancy because of the heat.  In reality I don’t need a greenhouse for this as everyone here usually just puts the plants in a dry place, a garage or cellar, and leaves them until spring when though the plants normally look rather sad will shoot and many cuttings can be taken to produce new plants and the ‘mother’ plant can be coaxed back to healthy growth with some food and water!  I only have somewhere that is too damp so the plants would rot off, so that’s my reason for not growing them now.

The extreme cold we had in December (minus 7 at least) may have killed the Agapanthus I have planted in the left hand border.  I like the Agapanthus a lot so when I get the greenhouse I can plant some up in pots then over winter them safely.  I’m going to have to decide whether I want to maintain it frost free – I will be re-reading Janet’s (at Plantalicious) comments on this subject.  I don’t want to heat it unless we put up a solar panel which may be a good option as there is always lots of sun even when it is cold.

As always thanks to Helen at Patient Gardener for hosting the End of Month review.

I will be returning to the ‘slope’ but nothing has changed since planting in October and November.  As there are no obvious other new areas I’ll try to give you more details about the existing beds and borders.  Sorry no photos either today.

 

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Bloomday December

Up until this week we have been very lucky with the weather this autumn.  Yes, we’ve had a huge amount of rain, but that is necessary after no rain for 3 months in the summer.  The days in between have been sunny and mostly warm.  This week the temperatures are really dropping!  I know many of you think Italy is sunny and warm always but I actually think it is colder here in Viterbo than it was in southern England during the winter.  The skies are a beautiful pale blue and the temperatures are forecast as going down to minus 3 or 4° C but there’s also a north east wind blowing strongly (Grecale – I love that the winds all have a name) so with the wind chill factor, that’s about minus 8°C.  This is about the coldest it’s been since we moved here and it is forecast for the whole week, then next week warmer temperatures again and rain.  The cold days bring wonderful sunsets, for me they are even more beautiful than those in summer.

I harvested what were definitely the very last peppers this past weekend.  One red, one yellow and several green; I roasted them and they were still deliciously sweet.  I also lifted the fennel because I know that won’t stand the frost.  I made orange and fennel salad yesterday and will cook the rest and serve them as a vegetable during the week.

We took all the ties off the dead tomato plants and took down the canes, I want to plant garlic and onions in this bed soon (garlic on the shortest day of the year) so need to tidy it up a bit and clear it of all the fallen tomatoes, peppers and chillies that will seed themselves next spring if I don’t.  I hope it’s not too cold to get the garlic planted.

Until this cold weather the roses have surprised me by flowering so well.  The major interest in the garden is now from seedheads, berries and fruits.  I don’t have anything with colourful stems unless you count the Gaura.  Cornus, sadly, needs more water than I am prepared to give it and the sun is too scorching in the summer for any of the Acers with good stem colour.

Interestingly Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ was still wonderfully green until the frost on the 5^th December when it turned a sunny yellow – its seedheads are still looking fabulous though, and it remains one of my favourite grasses.

Miscanthus Morning Light

On Monday 13^th I picked some of the roses so I could enjoy them inside the house as I thought they wouldn’t survive outside.  I was pleasantly surprised as I took photos that many buds  still look viable.

An assortment of roses still flowering

The really big surprise was a single Muscari that I discovered just beginning to flower under the pine tree; I certainly didn’t expect to see that for another couple of months.

The first very brave Muscari

Click here or on the the Muscari image above to see a slideshow of all the brave plants flowering today.

We have such strong winds here that most of the leaves that have dropped from the trees have been blown off the borders and have ended up under the hedge, where I’m happy for them to stay.  The only things that have been completely blackened by the frost are some Cannas I grow for their leaf interest and the Dahlias so nothing that you wouldn’t expect to happen.  I have been trying to weed whilst I planted bulbs (not quite finished yet – but nearly) and then to mulch to try and stop annual weed seeds growing during mild spells in the winter and next spring.  Some beds and borders are very difficult to get into until the plants die back a little as all the beds are planted very closely, especially the left hand border.  I definitely need to get in there fairly soon.

With many thanks as usual to Carol at Maydreams garden for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloomday.  Visit her site to link to gardens all over the world and see what’s flowering in everyone else’s garden.  Carol has SNOW and you can understand why she dreams of May.

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