[Hilary]

Wasp nest

Whenever I visit my friend’s garden she always has some curiosity of nature to share with me be it a tortoise’s egg in the middle of the path, baby tortoises and last September this  wasp’s nest

[Hilary]

Alcea, Hollyhock
A great surprise next to a tree in the pavement, on my way to the shops

[Hilary]

Rosa Tequila

Seen in the rose garden next to San Francisco el Grande, Madrid,  in August 2023

[Hilary]

An orange rose with an ant seen in Sparta, June 2014

[Hilary]

We saw this painting on tiles, of a very flowery Granada, somewhere in the center of Madrid in 2013.

A flowery photo from the Alhambra gardens taken in 1997, pre digital camera days

In THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 79 January 2015, you can read
AN ANDALUCIAN ADVENTURE:
PART 1 GRANADA
By Karen Leathers

For some reason the photographs of this article have disappeared but the link takes you to PART 2 CORDOBA
For photographs of some of the gardens. see THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN SOCIETY website

http://www.mediterraneangardensocietyarchive.org/80-cordoba.html

[Hilary]

Carpobrotus edulis, Hottentot fig

The first photo was taken in the spring of 1996.
At that time this plant could be seen at the side of the new National roads at toll booths and other public spaces. I think I took the photo of the plant, which I found very exotic, near the port of Corinth.

The second photo was taken in the spring of 2019 in the Mani and was definitely an escapee

The drawing of Carpobrotus edulis in the Journal number 18 is by Freda Cox

To read about invasive plants go to
 THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN
 number 54 October 2008
INVASIVE PLANTS:
A WORKING GROUP IN FRANCE
By Isabelle Mandon- Dalger .

Back issues are available from the Secretary at 8 Euros per copy including postage.

[Hilary]

Antirrhinum siculum, Sicilian snapdragon

A plant grown from seeds acquired from
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN SEED EXCHANGE

The flowers are tiny but so pretty. I hope to manage to keep this plant over winter

The close ups were taken in June, the photo with the blue background in July and the last two photos in September.

Antirrhinum siculum is mentioned in
SPAROZA: DEREK’S GARDEN   
By Sally Razelou
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 45 July 2006

[Hilary]

Monarch Butterfly on a red flower

A stamp issued by the USA in 2017 in a series named
 Protect Pollinators.

Apparently Forever stamps do not have an expiry date but can only be used on letters weighing up to one ounce.

Monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus are mentioned in
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – THE 2017 AGM
By Alisdair Aird & Helena Wiesner
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 91 January 2018

For photographs of some of these gardens see
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN website,
 
http://www.mediterraneangardensocietyarchive.org/91-agm.html

[Hilary]

Echinopsis, Cactus

Two pots high up on top of gateposts here in Corinth.
I was lucky enough to see them in bloom, with a clear blue sky as background for one of the pots, and have my camera ready.

Cacti are mentioned many times in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN

I have gone back to one of the early issues, number 17 summer 1999
And read
THE SOLLER BOTANIC GARDEN, MALLORCA
By Pilar Gomez-Centurion

Although a link is not given the website of this garden is easily found

In the IN BLOOM at Sparoza thread I see there are photos of Echinopsis tubiflora in May, June and July
I don’t know if this is the same cactus.

https://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/bloom.html

[Hilary]

Tomatoes drying in the sun
Santorini late August 1980

Not being able to find an article in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN index about drying tomatoes I chose
PART-TIME MEDITERRANEAN GARDENERS
By Helene Pizzi
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN 62 October 2010

Tomatoes are grown in the Mediterranean garden of the author

[Hilary]

Hibiscus rosa- sinensis
In a friend’s garden August 2010

Hibiscus are mentioned in many issues of THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN
I chose to read
GARDENS IN THE COSTA BLANCA REGION:
THE JARDINES DE MONFORTE
AND THE VALENCIA BOTANIC GARDEN
By Carol Hawes
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 80 April 2015

For photographs of these gardens, see
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN SOCIETY website
http://www.mediterraneangardensocietyarchive.org/80-montforte.html

[Hilary]

Opuntia vestita, Old Man Opuntia

This weird looking cactus graces our kitchen windowsill but I don't like it, although I like the pot which we bought in a street market in Madrid.

Both will be exiled to a less conspicuous place. 

[Hilary]

Ficus carica, Fig

FIGS by Claudia de Verteuil-Holliday
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 104 April 2021

You can read here all you want to know about figs

I am adding a scan of a stamp, depicting figs, issued by Lebanon in 1962
And several photos
Bare branches of a fig tree near the sea, February 2015.
A fig tree growing inside a derelict house somewhere in the Mani,
 April 2019.
 A fig tree growing out of a wall in Sparta, June 2015.
Fresh supermarket bought figs, August 2017
Two photos taken near Kalamata in August 1979 of a man tending his fig crop
And a packet of Kalamata dried figs bought last week.

[Hilary]

Kumquat, Cumquat, Fortunella

Several years ago, this Kumquat plant became too large for a pot on a balcony and the owner planted it in an area in Sparta designated for a future park / square.
Over the years I watched the plant grow and become this wonderful small tree. The photo was taken in 2019 and I don’t think I have been down to Sparta or seen the tree since then.

All of you who have visited Corfu will have taken home a bottle of Kumquat liqueur. Yet I can’t find any reference to this liqueur in
 THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN

A friend of mine kindly took a photo of the Kumquat liqueur in her drink’s cabinet.

After much searching, I came across a piece where Kumquat is mentioned
GROWING MEDITERRANEAN CITRUS FRUITS IN A MELBOURNE GARDEN
By Marion Poynter
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 89 July 2017

[Hilary]

Pyrus amygdaliformis, Almond- leaved pear

For several years we went down to Sparta for the odd few days to help out with the two granddaughters. On our way home we used to take a side trip to walk in the countryside and, for me, to snap wild flowers. This was my favourite place to stop and my favourite tree.

We never did see the goats which apparently drank water near the tree and enjoyed the summer shade. Sometimes we heard their bells in the distance.

Here are some photos of that tree in Laconia the tree in the following article is on the island of Tilos

The article THE ALMOND – LEAVED PEAR by Michael Athen
Is in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 104 April 2021