[JTh]

It’s nice to be back in Greece, in spite of the economic situation. The winter here in Greece has been exceptionally cold, they say the toughest since 1987 (when I lived here), but to my big surprise, everything I planted last year has survived, I guess all the rain helped.

Spring seems to be late here, hardly any orchids out yet, but I was very pleased for once to be here early enough to see many nice specimens of Fritillaria pontica, and  also to be able to get a shot of the inside, the spots are said to be typical for this one.

Last week there were plenty of the small Iris reichenbachii, I am always amazed by all the various colours they show, from almost white (with white beard) to dark yellow, and blue or purple.

[JTh]

The little clump of Ornithogalum was very bright, very short stems, I am not sure if it is O. atticum, it was extremely compact, could anybody tell me what they are?

[Alisdair]

Possibly O. sibthorpii which does flower very compactly like that, on very short stems. Look at the leaves: sibthorpii's are narrow, with a white stripe on the top surface, while atticum's are broader and tend to lie flat on the surface.
What does Oron think?

[oron peri]

Yes i agree with Alisdair, it is definatly O. sibthorpii.
This species has elongated petals, more then other species in the genus.

[JTh]

Thank you, Alisdair and Oron, great to get help this way, I'll take a look at the leaves if possible.

[John]

I would have had a guess at O. sibthorpii as well. If you see it again and fruiting the pedicels distinctly bend downwards where there is a swelling at the base.

[JTh]

When we arrived nearly three weeks ago, the landscape was dominated by all the various yellow brooms. Now these have faded and the pink and white flowers of the cistuses have replaced a lot of the yellow brooms. The local farmer who takes care of our olive trees insists on plowing around these, and he was a bit upset we told him we wanted to keep all wild bushes along the fence, where the cistuses are growing well, together with a lot of other bushes they are now covering the fence nicely.

The first ones to bloom were Cistus salvifolius, which are low bushes here but with large flowers, then C. creticus, with much larger, pink, crinkly flowers, the last ones are narrow-leaved  with quite small flowers, but there are lots of them, I think they look like C. monspeliensis, except that they grow much taller here than what the books say.

Not far from here there is a large field full of wild tulips, thanks to help from Oron I now know they are Tulipa orphanidea.  I wonder if the goats grazing there find them tasty. They (the tulips, not the goats) would be perfect in the garden.

[Alisdair]

Lovely, Jorun - especially that tulip.
When we were down in the south of Greece in mid-April the native cistuses were in fuller flower that we'd ever seen them before, and local people were saying that it was an exceptional year for them - looks as if that's true for you in northern Greece too! And you're lucky to have C. monspeliensis as well as the other two, which we don't in our local area (we are trying to establish it in our own little "managed wilderness" plot).

[JTh]

I wish to add some more spring flower photos from this year. It is even more colourful than usual, probably as a result of an unusually mild winter with lots of rain.
We have had sunny weather since we arrived in mid-April, and quite hot the last two weeks, with temperatures up to 30 degrees C, the sea is warm, even lots of Greeks are swimming now every day here. Now some rain would actually not hurt.

I have chosen some of the many wildflowers in the vicinity. The butterfly in the last photo is a Gonepteryx rhamni, which looks just like a green leaf when it is visiting a flower.

[JTh]

I am back in a much colder climate than the one I left a couple of days ago, but I am following up what I started a week ago while I was still in Halkidiki.

There were some large Orchis tridentata somewhat higher up than our house, it's one of my favourite places both in spring and in the autumn. The only thing that worries me is that there are plenty of wild boars in that area, there were fresh tracks and the smell was strong, I wonder what I should do if they see me. In that area I have also seen Globularia alypum, I wonder if any of you have  ever seen it for sale? It's a very pretty little bush.

Anacamptis pyramidalis is one of the most common orchids, but species with such a strong, dark red-purple as those coming back 250 m from our house I have never seen anywhere else, the two photos are taken one week apart, the last one was near 0.5 m tall.

In the Holomonda mountains just behind us there are always many Cephalanthera longifolia, this year they  were bigger than I have seen them before. At the same place we also see the broom Chaemaecytisus hirsutus,it  is not very big, but the flowers are rather showy. Salvia argentea also have nice flowers, but it is mainly used as a garden plant beacuse of its very hairy, silvery leaves, I was lucky and found them for sale at a garden fair in Thessaloniki a few weeks ago.

[Alice]

Lovely photos, Jorun.
Concerning Globularia alypum: I know that research has been conducted on this plant at the Agricultural University of Athens(aua) with a view to its use as an ornamental. It has been described as an outstanding xerophytic and is a plant I would also very much like to have.
I will see if I can get any information about a supplier.

[JTh]

Thank you, Alice. I have seen Globularia growing along the dusty road to a quarry nearby, in full sun and there can't be much water there, but it still looks lovely.

[Jill S]

Pepiniere Filippi stock it along with 'vulgare'. Both look very much like 'wish list' plants.

I've never really 'got' wild orchids Jorun, but your photos are making me into something of a convert, they are beautiful, and so finely detailed. I think I am going to have to get up close and personal with them in future. Thank you for bringing my attention to what I have been almost ignoring for far too long.

[Umbrian]

Re Wild Boars Jorun, I have heard them when walking in the woods above us, they make a lot of noise and it can be quite scary. However they seem to retreat to cover when sensing or seeing humans approach as this would appear to confirm. As with most animals ,they are probably most dangerous when they have young with them and in that case may well act differently in order to protect them. I suppose a slow, quiet retreat is the best option but probably easier said than done when confronted by the strongly built and powerful adults. 

[Alisdair]

Helena and I have had no success so far, trying to propagate this lovely little shrub either from seed or from cuttings. It is a very welcome sight on the driest slopes of the Peloponnese, its long-lasting steely blue flowers contrasting well with the dark foliage, from January on into spring. It's very widely spread around the drier parts of the Mediterranean coast, right round to North Africa.