Melia azedarach,
Pride of India, Pride of China, Persian Lilac, Bead Tree and the list goes on.
No stamp today but continuing with the Easter / Spring theme.
Several of these trees grow around Corinth and Ancient Corinth.
The first time I saw this tree was at Easter 1966, when I experienced my first Greek Easter Day feast. The tree was growing in the garden where the lamb was being cooked on the spit, hand turned none of your little motors to turn the spit then. I was told the tree was called Paskalia. Since then I have noticed that just about anything pale purple in colour goes by the name of Paskalia
Here are a couple of photos taken last May. We had trouble finding enough wild flowers, they had all dried up, to make our May Wreath so we were glad to come across a bushy Indian Bead tree next to the, now defunct, railway lines.
In the end most of the wreath was made with the flowers
Melia azedarach is mentioned many times in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN Issue number 25, July 2001 mentions that a Melia tree was lost after the very dry winter of 1999- 2000. I wonder if it has been replaced?
THE GARDEN AT SPAROZA by Caroline Harbouri