The MGS Forum
Miscellaneous => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: John J on January 23, 2016, 12:47:28 PM
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Today being bright and sunny we ventured out for a short walk on the edge of the village. Not a lot of activity amongst the wild flowers, possibly due to the rains arriving very late this year. Below are a couple of photos that I took.
Anemone coronaria and Lycium ferocissimum, flower and fruit.
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February 1st and this morning we ventured a little further afield for our morning walk. As far as the ancient ruins at Kourion on the south coast of the island and only a five minute drive from home. Until relatively recently these ruins were open to all and the local shepherds grazed their flocks of sheep and goats over, around and through them with the resultant devastation to all plant life. However, since the Antiquities Department eventually got around to fencing off the area and began to charge for admission the change has been dramatic. With the domestic livestock no longer an issue the recovery has improved year upon year.
I took a few photos and will post them here beginning with Fagonia cretica. This rambling sub-shrub is more often found scrambling through and over other shrubs but here it is carpeting the ground.
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The Cyclamen persicum that were rarely seen, except in places that the animals couldn't get at them, are now abundant.
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Interesting that previously those browsing animals meant that you didn't often see cyclamens there. I wonder if it was them trampling rather than eating (cyclamen is supposed to be poisonous to animals)? In mainland Greece Cyclamen graecum seems to grow as happily on those olive terraces where animals graze as those where they don't.
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An interesting point, Alisdair, and one I hadn't considered. On reflection it was also, of course, open to human traffic and was something of a playground for the local children, all of which could have been a contributing factor.
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Rather forbidding looking Anchusa aegyptiaca.
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Wonderful contrast between those fierce leaves and the delicate little flowers!
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Asphodelus aestivus. In Greek mythology Asphodel Meadows were where the souls of those who were neither good nor evil were sent once they had been judged, hence the majority ended up here.
It's February and note how dry the landscape looks due to the fact that we have had so little rain so far this winter.
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I am enjoying the photographic evidence of your morning walk
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I'm glad to hear that, Hilary, thank you.
Not sure what to label the following as because it seems to cause so much discussion as to whether it is 2 distinct species or 2 variants of the same species or whatever. However, I am reliably informed that the latest suggestion to come from the taxonomists is that the autumn-flowering plant should be named Mandragora officinalis and the spring-flowering one M. officinarum. ??? So, as this is in flower now maybe I should go for the latter? :P
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There were patches of lovely little Romulea tempskyana scattered among the ruins, often in association with Cyclamen persicum.
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Fleabane, not the most attractive of plants but a commonly occurring one. Phagnalon rupestre subsp. graecum predominates in the south and west of the island while Phagnalon rupestre subsp. rupestre does the same in the east and central areas.
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Helichrysum conglobatum flowering rather earlier than normal I suspect.
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I have run out of photos from my recent morning walks and this one doesn't exactly qualify as when I saw it I was driving out of the village but here goes.
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Yesterday we decided to walk over to the opposite side of the village than usual, to an area that we hadn't explored for some time. Not that many years ago it was all open countryside that had an abundance of flowers in the spring. Now it is full of houses with roads and tracks cut through the once virgin countryside. We did find one area with a few anemones and also some Salvia verbenaca plants clinging on tenaciously by the roadsides.
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Today's walk saw us on the cliffs to the south-west of the island in the area of Petra tou Romiou (Aphrodite's Rock).
We came across this intriguing little tableau. The obvious question is; who, or what, was Antony (without an H) and why does he warrant a grave/shrine on this spot?
More of the flowers that we found tomorrow.
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As promised, with first Prasium majus, common indigenous plant that occurs all around the Med, I believe.
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Breaking in here with news of today's walk. This took us from the road leading down Happy Valley (the whole valley is situated within the British Garrison of Episkopi and serves as the sports complex for the base, with a variety of pitches, athletic tracks, etc) and towards the Monastery of Agios Giorgios. We were amazed by the sheer number of mandrakes that we found, they were everywhere we turned. A few are illustrated below.
On a slightly different note we also found plants of Silene vulgaris (Bladder Campion). These are one of the traditional 'horta' of the island, the young, tender shoots being collected and fried with eggs.
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Back to our clifftop walk and the sign says it all.
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Today we have a Cyprus endemic that we found, Onobrychis venosa.
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John, that's a beauty.
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Lithodora hispidula subsp versicolor, and yet another mandrake that my wife spotted hiding in the undergrowth.
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The wild thyme still looking very dry due to the lack of rain we have had so far this winter.
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On my customary morning stroll around our property I realized that we don't need to wander far to find a fair number of wildflowers as we have them much closer to home, generally masquerading as 'weeds'.
We start with the dreaded, and dreadful, Oxalis pes-caprae. I know it's a terrible photo but maybe it doesn't deserve any better. >:(
More from tomorrow.
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Erodium malacoides.
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The tiny white flowers of Veronica cymbalaria.
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As so often, yet another reason for bending down for a really close look: so many little wild flowers are so rewarding when you get up close. Thanks again, John, I love sharing your morning walks!
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Bellevalia trifoliata.
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Anchusa azurea syn. A. italica, or vice versa depending on which source you read. ???
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Lamium moschatum.
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Tragopogon sinuatus.
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Hello John, Your photos of the local plants are a treat to see. I really like this Tragopogon, it looks as though it would attract a lot of visitors.
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Thank you, Joanna. This particular salsify is very attractive although the flower is quite short lived. They pop up all over our property every year.
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Fumaria judaica.
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Today's was not a morning walk but more of a post-prandial stroll. It took place in the area between the Temple of Apollo Hylates (Apollo of the Woodland) and the ancient Stadium at Kourion.
We start with Sarcopoterium spinosum (Spiny/Prickly Burnet) the stuff that looks dead in the summer, catches at clothing and scratches bare legs as people walk the hillsides.
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John, this Sarcopoterium is currently a favourite of mine in this garden. It looks good with white flowering Cistus and giant fennel and Asphodel too. Are those seeds on the plant in your photo? Mine have never set seed and live for only a couple of years. It must be way out of its preferred environment, especially today when it has had a coating of snow after a month of rain.
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Joanna, you are pretty well describing the environment that this plant grows in, what is generally thought of as 'impoverished' areas. In many parts it is the dominant species making walking the hills a somewhat tricky and often quite painful business. Those are the fruit which I think are appearing rather earlier than usual, perhaps due to the spells of unseasonably hot weather we've had this winter.
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As Joanna mentioned in her post the Spiny Burnet was accompanied by the white-flowered Cistus salviifolius. While we literally found just a single flower of Cistus creticus the rest having already gone over.
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That's incredibly early for Cistus creticus to go over, isn't it? We're going out to Greece later this month and had been hoping to see our cistuses at their peak - should we cancel our trip ???
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Alisdair, I can only speak for that particular area but when we were there at the end of Feb it was all C. creticus and not a sign of C. salviifolius. Now it's the other way around. I can only blame it on the ridiculous weather pattern we've been experiencing. Normally Feb is the coldest, wettest month of the winter but this year we've had temps in the mid 20s and virtually no rain to speak of. The plants are all confused and are behaving completely out of character. This lunchtime we collected granddaughter from nursery school and drove her home and the external temp gauge in my car was registering 26 degreesC.
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The fallen petals look very pretty on the ground! in my garden the Cistus monspeliensis is in full flower, the C. creticus just coming out, but up on Hymettos they are all still in bud.
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Phagnalon rupestre subsp graecum.
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Helichrysum conglobatum
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Pallenis spinosa
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Our morning walks have taken a back seat recently for one reason and another so today we decided to make up for lost distance, as it were, and do a long one.
We chose one of the Forestry Department Nature Trails that is around 7 kms long. The Artemis Trail (named after the ancient Goddess of Forests) is a circular route round the peak of Chionistra (the highest point on Cyprus at 1,952 metres) and has an average altitude of 1,850 metres.
We were lucky enough to find a few endemics and I will post them here over the coming days.
The first one is Alyssum troodi that is restricted to the Chionistra area (1,200 to 1,950 m), growing on serpentinised ultrabasic rocks.
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Another endemic that is restricted to the Troodos Range, Cephalorrhynchus cypricus, from 800 - 1,950 m. We found this single flower on a hillside that was in shade and so the soil still retained some moisture.
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This one took a bit of identifying. We could not recall ever having seen it either 'in the flesh' or in photos. We checked all our books on wild flowers in Cyprus and the Mediterranean, to no avail. Phone calls and emails during the course of yesterday brought us to the one book we'd omitted to look at, The Red Data Book of the Flora of Cyprus. There it was on page 312.
Orthurus heterocarpus (syn Geum heterocarpum) is not a Cyprus endemic but is restricted to the area around Chionistra (the highest peak in Cyprus) growing in the shade of Juniperus foetidissima and Pinus nigra subsp pallasiana forest at an altitude of 1,700 to 1,950 m. Its population is estimated at around 5,500 and its threat rating is VU (Vulnerable).
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Another Cyprus endemic, Onosma troodi (Troodos golden-drop) that is restricted to hillsides in the highest reaches of the Troodos Forest (1,500-1,950 m). We feel very fortunate to have stumbled on this single plant as they would appear to be diminishing in numbers.
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Arabis purpurea, another Cyprus endemic restricted to the Troodos Range (400 - 1,800 m).
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Nepeta troodi, another Cyprus endemic from the higher elevations of the Troodos Range (1,100 - 1,950 m).
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One more Cyprus endemic that is common in the Troodos Forest (1,200 - 1,700 m).
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Finally, not an endemic but a plant that grows in the area of Chionistra (900 - 1,950 m).
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Every November we check the area on the cliff top above the ancient city of Kourion, near the ruins of the Temple of Apollo Hylates (Apollo of the Woodland) for Narcissus serotinus. This November after almost a year without rain we found nothing. Following a few days of heavy rain last week we decided to take a look this morning and this is a small example of what we found.
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That's very reassuring, John! When we were in Greece in November we expect to find N. obsoletus flowering as usual in our garden but there was absolutely no sign. Maybe they were simply waiting for some more serious rain, too.
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On our New Year's Day morning walk today we decided to take a look at the area around the Akrotiri Salt Lake, in particular the Fasouri Marsh Wetlands. The salt lake itself appears to be filling nicely, with several flocks of wading birds in the distance (unfortunately forgot to put the binos in the car). A large area of the wetlands has recently been enclosed by a sturdy pole fence, in an attempt to combat illegal fly-tipping, etc. Not much to be seen in the way of flowers as yet although the December rains have begun to bring forth new foliage. The sun shining through the massed groupings of Phragmites australis was a pleasant sight though.
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Not exactly a morning walk today but a resumption of our usual morning stroll around the property, something we have not been able to do for about a week due to the heavy rain, thunder storms and resulting waterlogged ground. Following the long, hot, dry summer, and autumn, winter has eventually arrived with a vengeance, as they say. Whilst assessing any possible damage I found that one or two plants have begun to take advantage of the conditions, especially the fact that the sun has reappeared, to attempt to flower. Below are just 3 of them that I snapped this morning.
Correa backhouseana
Cestrum roseum
Jasminum mesnyi
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Today's morning walk took me down to the Wetlands around the Akrotiri Salt Lake to see what impact the recent heavy rains have had on the area. Nothing spectacular to record botanically but looking inland towards the Troodos massif there's snow on the tops.
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Today's walk was an afternoon one, the Australian Open tennis has a lot to answer for! It was bright and sunny but with a chill breeze blowing. We didn't venture far therefore, just up onto the cliffs above the beach at Kourion, in the area near the ruins of the Ancient Greek Stadium. Not many flowers out as yet but I did get these pictures of Romulea tempskyana and Anemone coronaria.
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For a variety of reasons yesterday's walk turned into an afternoon one. A few days ago we had spotted a sign on the Kourion clifftop about a newly created Nature Walk so decided to give it a try. It was marked as 4km but as we progressed the sky began to look a little threatening and, with the number of photo stops and other distractions, time was passing so we turned at the halfway mark and returned to the car. Still that 4km had taken around an hour and a half. We'll do the other half another day when we have time for the full 8km.
The number of anemones we came across was amazing, whole swathes of them everywhere. The photos really don't do them justice.
In one spot we found a fairly close grouping of mandrakes, they were amazing, yuge. (Sorry!). The size can be seen compared to my wife's hand.
The others are Ecballium elaterium, Asphodelus aestivus, Fagonia cretica and what I think is Dianthus strictus but if it is then it's extremely early.
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Today's walk was more of a late morning/midday one. We decided to visit an area we hadn't been to for a while, Paramali. We parked the car under a flyover of the Limassol/Paphos highway intending to take a nearby rough dirt track only to find that it had been scraped and widened recently. The first photo shows some rather dusty plants that narrowly escaped the destruction. Basically all we found of any note were a few ancient olive trees, as in the next 3 photos.
Having abandoned our initial intention we headed for the ruins of Kourion where we have a friendly relationship with the custodians in the ticket office.
Here Romulea and Cyclamen were out in abundance, photos 5 & 6. As I was concentrating on getting photo 7 lined up (a rather unusual looking cyclamen) a snake appeared from under a pile of stones, shot between my feet and disappeared into a bush. I barely had time to register that it was black and therefore a Whip snake and non-venomous, and not before my heart rate had gone up a few notches.
Photo 8 is one of the earliest orchids to flower, Orchis collina. No. 9 is Bellis sylvestris no.10 showing its pink reverse side.
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You should have had JTh's husband with you. He'd have put your snake in a plastic box!
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John and Fleur, a small correction: he catches snakes only if they are inside our house, for instance in our bedroom.
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Not a morning walk but an afternoon walk with a set purpose. To get photographic evidence to support my wife when she takes part in the village environmental committee's meeting this evening.
The Kouris was a seasonal river that ran through Kolossi until it was dammed in the 1980s. The first 2 photos are from the 1960s when it could be quite powerful in spate. In fact in the winter of 1967 it washed away the Queen's Bridge in the British Sovereign Base Area and the Royal Engineers had to construct a Bailey bridge until the river went down in the summer and it could be repaired. However, following the building of the dam the water ceased to flow and the remaining photos show how the river bed looks today.
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Not much of an improvement,at least not from an aesthetic point of veiew.
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Hi Jorun. It does look sad that the 'mighty' Kouris of my childhood, which really looked amazing after the spring snow melt, is now a dumping ground for 'uncaring' individuals. The riverbed has been cleaned many times but unfortunately the dumping has not stopped. The last 5 years my concerns have been unheeded but now with the new village council leader, a much younger man, there is hope for change. I was invited by the committee to speak at last evening's gathering regarding setting up groups for the improvement of the village. I have been informed that my impassioned speech has gathered the most volunteers. I now have to organize them and I shall post our 'news' as they come along.
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Great, Charitea, I hope you succeed.
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Test
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I see that a "test" message has been sent. There does seem to be a problem here because I wrote a message of support to Charithea which isn't showing up.
Hope everything went well, Charithea. Great work you are doing!
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I sent the test message as I was unable to access the forum for a few days and then when it returned I couldn't post photos, and still cannot post photos.
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hereistay seems to have got the thing to work.
I wonder if it is the time of day or the size of the photos.
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As some of you will have noticed the site went offline altogether over the weekend. Our administrator had to put a lot of work into getting it back in action, but succeeded. However, as John has found there is a problem with photos. I've been experimenting myself, and it seems that Hilary is right - the problem is to do with size. I managed to post any photo successfully so long as the file was under 130kb in size (including multiple photos, so long as each individually was under that size), but failed with any photo over that size.
I have alerted the administrator to this, but in the meantime if you do want to post photos please try to keep them to the very smallest file size you can manage, and definitely under 130kb. If you try but get an error message, try again deleting the first attempt and using a smaller file size.
I'm very sorry about the difficulties, and hope we can sort them out as soon as possible.
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Testing with Hermodactylus tuberosus photo, flowering this morning.
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The administrator says the site should now be accepting photos properly again. I've tested it with photos right up to the usual 250kb limit and it worked perfectly for me, so I hope it does for you.
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Here goes with the photos I tried several times to post. They were taken on a cold, clear, sharp morning. The Loropetalum chinense is in full bloom and the Arbutus andrachne is showing why it is in the Ericaceae family with its heather-like flowers.
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Thanks for persevering, John; they're lovely pictures!
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This morning we awoke to a Blues day. Not, I hasten to add, a reflection of our mood but the sight that greeted us as we walked outside.
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Lovely selection of photographs John. At the moment I just have a few Scillas coming into bloom but am cheered each morning by various Narcissus providing " sunshine" even on the greyest of days. A lovely time of year when each day promises something new.
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Thank you, Carole. We haven't had a quiz post for a while so how about getting back into the swing with an easy one? How many of the plants in my last post can you identify?
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Felt I had to rise to the challenge John but am ashamed to say I haven't done too well.....
1 Vinca
2, 3, 4. ?
5 Salvia discolor ( now?)
6 Lavender stoechas
7 Rosemary
8?
9 Violet
Must get my little grey cells out of winter hibernation.
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I'll give you the first one as Vinca major. The Salvia discolor has been flowering almost all winter. You skipped one between the salvia and the lavender, the small blue flower. Rosemary, yes and Viola odorata. I have to confess to cheating a bit as a couple of them are wildflowers.
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Taking inspiration from Umbrian's mention of flowers that provide 'sunshine' I decided to take a sort of inventory of our current cheerful blooms. Although I have to admit to a bit of poetic license with the last one as it is stretching it a little to call it yellow.
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Have just returned from my weekly visit to our local market where I saw plants for sale that were no 2 - needless to say the vendor had no idea what they were - imported by "looks" from Holland I would think. Anyway I had a sudden brain surge and wonder if it is a type of Clerodendrum? How hardy is it?
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I assume you mean No 2 on the blue, Carole. It's an Australian native Hardenbergia violaceae, a fast growing, scrambling climber that is described as; moderately drought tolerant; frost tolerant 0 to -5 degrees C; sensitive to water logged soil; prefers full sun or partial shade. Hope this helps.
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Thanks for the info re Hardenbergia John - might give it a try.
Hope some other ' Forumers' take uo the challenge for the yellow flowers. I struggled with some again but it definitely helped my winter dormant brain get into gardening mode again.
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Yellow flower, morning walk
One of them is Brugmansia
Either people are still hibernating, or don't recognise any of the yellow flowers or know them all
Here is a Brugmansia seen growing in a small patio at the Alhambra, Granada.
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You are certainly correct about the flower, Hilary, as for the rest of your comments, who knows?
Staying with the colour theme, today I went for white.
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Crassula ovata
A very useful plant which surprisingly didn't come to any harm during the cold snap.
Photo taken Februry 2016
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Iris germanica
Photo taken one April in Mystra, Greece
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Hello John here's my two bobs'worth , but I'll have to do it colour by colour , there is far too much to remember all together. So for the blues i think there is a Cerinthe and a Tassel Hyacinth, lampascioni which are delicious to eat. In fact I think it is Muscari
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For the yellows, might the first be Thevetia, Yellow oleander? Then an Alamanda, and perhaps a Tree Medicago and the last is a Cymbidium orchid. The various daisy types are thoroughly confusing.
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Yellow. I missed Black Eyed Suzy, a Thunbergia.
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For the whites, lantana, pelargonium, rose , viburnum tinus and an arum or calla.
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Gosh, lets take these one at a time. Hilary, Crassula ovata and Iris germanica are both correct.
Joanna, no Cerinthe I'm afraid and the 'tassel hyacinth' is a Bellevalia trifoliata..
In the yellows, not a yellow oleander but an Eremophila maculata "Aurea". No to alamanda, yes to Medicago arborea and the orchid, also to the Thunbergia alata.
The whites, no pelargoniums but yes to Lantana camara, Viburnum tinus, Zantedeschia aethiopica and the rose is Rosa banksiae "Flore Pleno".
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This morning the dominant sense was not sight but sound. The sound of the birds singing merrily in the trees, and the sound of the bees busily working the blossom on our plum trees.
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Hi Hilary,
I don't know how cold it got for you but here in Rome none of my Crassula ovata survived intact. All of them were well-grown, mature specimens, one of them I had had for around 15 years. One lost all growth but the trunk is solid and may resprout. Another lost the right hand side and a third was badly damaged in the centre. Let's see what happens now that we are (were until today!) having spring weather.
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Hi Umbrian
Re Hardenbergia. Mine survived the cold of this winter but the foliage took a real battering. It is now coming into flower so, at least some of the flower buds survived the sub-zero temperatures. Needless to say, seeing the photo, mine is a white version. The photo is not very clear but what seems like a yellow spot on the petals is, in fact, green
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Today I went for the, for want of a better word, fiery colours.
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Happy to see more people taking an interest in naming the flower photos John is posting. Amazing how names can escape one and I have to agree Joanna - the Daisy type always confuse me although I should remember the yellow one with very ferny/cut leaves.....
Some recent very warm weather has found the birds that frequent our garden more intent on building nests and singing to attract a mate ( or keep one already found interested) than feeding. In the winter they are waiting for me to put out food but now it of less interest. The blackbirds are forgiven for the mess they cause, when frantically digging for worms and bugs, with their beautiful singing especially in the early evening. I do miss the presence of my friendly Robin though who, throughout the winter is never many feet away from me when I am working and helps cheer the bleakest of days. Gardening has more rewards than successfully grown plants.
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Thanks for that David- will give the Hardenbergia a try I think - it is so pretty. As regards Italy, this winter has seen some of the coldest weather for quite a few years as I am sure you will agree and so if yours survived it is a good omen. My small garden in town is more sheltered than the one in the country, at a higher altitude, and I am still looking for new subjects for it and feel I can be more adventurous.
Not surprisingly, my Mimosa in town is in full bloom whilst the one in the country is still in tight bud......but it has come through unscathed and large specimens in the area have been known to succumb after more prolonged spells of low temperatures in some winters. Taking a few chances is always worthwhile I think.
The bees certainly appreciate the Mimosa and there are even a few butterflies about.
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The fiery colours seem to have woken me up John and I think I have done better today....
Papaver
Rose
Kalanchoe
Nasturtium
Salvia ( but which one?)
Weigela
Marigold
Rose (rubifolia?)
Leonotis
The penultimate one escapes me although I have one struggling in the garden that somebody bought me last year .......label lost!
Good fun though keep up the good work. :)
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Ok, lets go through the ones we haven't identified colour by colour.
Blue:- No. 4 Salvia farinacea; No. 6 Anchusa azurea; No. 9 Plectranthus neochilus.
Yellow:- No. 2 Chrysanthemoides incana; No. 3 Jasminum mesnyi; No. 4 Osteospermum sp.; No.5 Euryops pectinata; No. 7 Senecio angulatus.
White:- No. 3 Eruca sativa (Rocket); No. 5 Lamium moschatum.
Fiery:- (I'll give you 6 out of 10, Carole); No. 1 Papaver rhoeas; No. 2 Damask Rose; No. 3 Kalanchoe blossfeldiana; No. 4 Nasturtium; No. 5 Eremophila glabra; No. 6 Cestrum roseum; No. 7 Calendula officinalis; No. 8 Rosa mutabilis; No. 9 Loropetalum chinense; No. 10 Tecoma capensis.
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Thanks for identifying the plants in 'photos John. With some I said " Oh, of course" but others were new to me. It is amazing to see how many subjects you have in flower whilst here I am awaiting the spring explosion. Some warm sunny days have seen things on the move however. In the meantime I am enjoying the winter flowering shrubs- and their perfume in many cases, plus bulbs and a sudden profusion of violets.
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Yesterday (Sunday) we decided it was time we began to seriously consider getting into shape in readiness for our upcoming MGS trip to Sardinia, so we went for a rather longer walk than normal, approx. 10 km. Not all on the level I hasten to add but down into a valley on the inland side of the Kourion cliffs and up the other side, some quite steep walking involved, and same again in reverse of course in order to get back to the car. Also practiced taking photos on the way. See below: Firstly a Field of asphodels. In Ancient Greek mythology this was where ordinary souls ended up, the ones that hadn't committed any serious crimes or done anything exceptional to allow them to gain admission to the Elysian Fields. Basically it was for those boring individuals who didn't belong elsewhere in the Underworld.
Echium angustifolium; Hypecoum imberbe; Prasium majus; Cistus creticus; Thymelaea hirsuta; Cyclamen persicum.
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John, that field of asphodel is really lovely. Once again I wonder why I garden, nature does it so well. Is Asphodel an indicator of poor soils, or maybe it is to be found in overgrazed pastures?
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Joanna, that is only a very small section of one area that was covered in these plants, the photo really doesn't do them justice. They grow all over, on rocky ground, garigue, pasture land. They have an advantage over most other plants in that grazing animals won't touch them so they can increase in vast numbers with little or no competition.
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Set off this morning with the intention of tracking down the location of a Herb Farm that I had heard rumours of. Unfortunately, when I found it it was a disappointment. However, I did stumble on a track that has been created in the vicinity of a village that is one of the last remaining strongholds of the once major carob industry in Cyprus. It claims to take the walker on a tour of abandoned carob plantations and resurrected areas among other agricultural disciplines (see board in the photo). This will need further investigation when I have more time. I tried to take a few photos of plants I spotted from the car but the stiff breeze made focusing difficult as they swayed around. I have posted a couple; Himantoglossum robertianum and Tordylium aegyptiacum.
Following the return of the forum I was reviewing former posts and realized that I had mentioned a board in a photo and then not posted the photo, so here it is.
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In response to Joanna's post on a different thread regarding spring photos, we have a patch of native Papaver hybridum that have appeared in an area of our garden/field this year.
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A few more photos that were taken today.
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Arrived back last night after 2 weeks away and was greeted by a display of roses this morning.
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Beautiful, John - I can almost smell them!
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On opening the blinds this morning was greeted by a mass of flowers on one of our Epiphyllums.
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An Ornithogalum arabicum has opened in time for us to see it before we leave to join the MGS trip to Sardinia.
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This morning's walk was a little different. It followed a telephone call from the leader of the village council saying that a public area of the village that we had recently planted up had been vandalized. The previous administration had planted this area, a long, thin, raised strip of land, with a double row of standard roses. These required constant watering and only flowered intermittently for a brief period, the remainder of the time looking decidedly tatty. The new council asked us to submit a plan to improve the site. I suggested a row of Pittosporum tobira at the back, these could be kept trimmed and would provide scent when in flower. Teucrium fruticans were placed at intervals in front of this with prostrate rosemary as ground cover and to soften the retaining wall by trailing over. This was accepted and carried out. The plants were establishing nicely until this morning it was discovered that overnight someone had pulled them all out and thrown them into the road below. We have just returned from attempting to rescue as many as possible and repair some of the damage. Thankfully we are off soon to spend a week in the company of plant-loving colleagues and friends and, hopefully, restore our faith in humanity.
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shockimg
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That's really dispiriting John. May I make a suggestion which could save this or other plantings from vandalism? Add in some roses which don't need a lot of water and are repeat flowerers. Nearly everyone has a soft spot for roses and would hesitate to destroy them, and they have useful thorns for protection. The flowers may get picked for wreaths on 1st May but even that can be avoided if you find short stemmed flowers. I have lots in the garden - all nameless but tough as old boots and a joy for much of the year. Many of them are from Sparoza. I'll take you some cuttings!
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So disappointing John - why do people do such pointless things? I can imagine how frustrated you must feel.
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I was recently asked to help with a project that our local council was planning. An area in the village was to be planted with the help of the children from the small school who would do some work on the plants chosen. My job was to advise on suitable plants. The initial meeting of all parties was at the end of last year and I heard nothing more until about two weeks before the 'grand inauguration ' of the project. I had given thought obviously to what should feature, plants native to our area that would be interesting for the children to study for their long culinary and medicinal properties. However on revisiting the sight I discovered that no preparation had been been done. As the area was quite large I suggested we concentrate on a small part of it, do that well and continue as and when time permitted. Workmen were sent to clear the chosen area but only did a surface job.....the trailing roots of couch grass still investing the soil only centimetres down. I complained and the work was redone but only marginally better. With the date fast approaching for the inauguration I had to go ahead and so one hot, sunny morning I found myself trying to oversee the planting with the " help" of about 30 young children, ages ranging from four years to ten/ eleven. Needless to say it was rather chaotic and when the children returned to school I had to set about replanting every plant.....I had shown them how to tease out the roots, mix some compost with the soil when they had made a hole sufficiently big enough etc but once let loose on the work my advice had little impact. I made sure the plants were well watered in the days running up to the inauguration which went well apparently ( I was unable to attend). I have heard nothing since and doubt if the ambitious plan to cultivate a much greater area will go ahead now they realise how much work is involved. The school is keen to participate and I am only too pleased to be involved but the whole experience has left me a little dispirited too.
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This year's Hollyhocks and a Delphinium staphisagria.
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Following on from the postings of a few days ago about the planting up of public areas in the village. This morning we spent around 4 hours planting a slope outside one of the churches in the village in an attempt to prevent the annual soil erosion caused by winter rains. This church is in an area of the village that was created when refugees from the north of the island were forced to seek refuge in the south following the troubles of 1974. The church was built as a temporary place of worship and has been replaced by a permanent structure. The plan now is to demolish the old building (it contains asbestos so this will be a specialist operation) and create an open air meeting place for the celebration of weddings, christenings, etc. The stabilizing of the slope and improving its look is the first stage in this process. MGS member and good friend, Yiannos Orphanos, is responsible for the design, provision of plants and initial labour, along with volunteers from the village.
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Wow, that's quite an undertaking, John!
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Back to a more conventional morning walk today, coffee in one hand, camera in the other. 8)
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John, Helena looking over my shoulder says it's crazy we didn't visit your lovely garden when the MGS had its AGM on Cyprus!!
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Alisdair and Helena, thanks for the compliment both. As the organizer of the 2009 AGM in Cyprus I didn't feel that our garden was of a sufficiently high standard to be included on the itinerary, apart from the fact that it would have been difficult to fit it into any of the routes taken to other venues. I feel that our garden is rather unconventional compared to what others expect when they visit it. It doesn't fit into any particular type or style, it isn't all tidy with neatly laid out paths and beds of disciplined plants, all colour matched. We experiment with plants and their growing conditions, a lot of things are self sown and as long as they are reasonably behaved they are allowed to remain in situ. Any sign of bullying or taking up more than their fair share of space and they're evicted.
I do apologise for not having invited anyone around on one of the free evenings, however, and can only plead that it was driven out of my head by having to ensure that the following day's programme was in place and all ready to go.
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Sounds just like the garden I would pay through the nose to visit! :)
As an aside, as I wrote the above I thought to myself "paying through the nose" must have origins in snobbery and "looking down your nose" etc. Therefore, paying a high price because cost was of no consideration. According to the Telegraph I was wrong. They say ""paying through the nose" was a Viking punishment of slitting the nose from tip to eyebrow of anyone who refused to pay tax".
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David, if you're ever in Cyprus you are welcome to visit free of charge.
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A few photos from this morning's walk.
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One Joynes does the planting and the other takes the photos?
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Just what are you implying, Kyria Pavlidi?
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I don't want a war to start so here are some photos where JJ is actually planting. The two Yannides (Yiannos Orphanos and John J) working on the Ayios Antreas church garden project. We have enlisted the help of the people living near the area as 'garden vigilantes'. So far so good. The pants are thriving.
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You might recall the photos posted on the 7th Feb showing the horrible sight of the Kouris River Bed. It was discovered that it was not our village's responsibility.It comes under the jurisdiction of the three neighbouring villages. However, the New Environmental Committee decided to take action and had the burnable stuff burnt on the Easter Bonfire. Now discussions are taking place with the ' responsible' villages to clear up the rest. I hope sometime soon to post a photo of a cleaned up river bed.
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A few photos from this morning's walk around the garden, before I got down to planting a couple of Sideritis cypria we found in the Forestry Department nursery at Platania yesterday. We had called in to investigate the possibility of the Forestry Department assisting the village in our renovation of its environs by providing plants either at a discounted rate or, preferably, free of charge. Will post the outcome at a later date.
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Walking around the village is getting more pleasant with the re- planting and the cleaning of its surrounds. Watering the newly 'planted' (March - April) areas is also becoming easier with the placing of drip irrigation. Before this it was a matter of going round with buckets every few days to keep the plants from dying. I am posting some photos to show the progress.
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I understand John was on his knees in the churchyard on Sunday. If he was seeking help from the old Greek gods then here are a few who might assist:
Demeter: Goddess of agriculture, fertility, sacred law and the harvest.
Attis: A minor god of vegetation, fruits of the earth and rebirth.
Antheia: Goddess of gardens, flowers, swamps, and marshes.
From https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/ (https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/)
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The temperature here has rocketed into the low 40 degrees C over the past week making working, and even walking, in the garden very uncomfortable. This morning I did get a couple of shots early before the sun burnt off the flowers. One is of the Rosa moschata and the other Oenothera biennis reflecting the rising sun.
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A Commelina doing its best to match the colour of the morning sky.
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Stretching today's morning walk a bit, both metaphorically and physically. It took place in a village high on the Troodos massif. In the first photo I was too far away on the other side of the valley to tell whether or not the green roof was natural or fake. The second photo is aimed at my former colleagues on the MGS AC and may strike a chord with them.
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Haven't posted much on morning walks for a while but with the current weather conditions it's probably the most strenuous activity possible. Today I decided to take a few photos of the plants that were still flowering despite the extended period of
intense, 40+C, temperatures we have been experiencing for much of June and July.
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And a few more.
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Today's morning walk resulted in a couple of surprises. This year has been a strange one so far but I did not expect to see the flowers featured in the first 2 photos yet. The lilac usually only flowers around Easter. The Tecoma stans and its cultivar 'Orange Jubilee' help to brighten up the day, while our white buddleja has flowered all through the summer. The fruit of the Eleagnus angustifolia are beginning to ripen although they are an acquired taste that I have never acquired.
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Not a morning walk but I took a detour while driving to the shop this morning to go past the church that features in a post from June 07 on this thread. I wanted to see how the plants that we had put in to stabilise the slope outside the church were doing. I took a couple of shots, not brilliant but give some idea of how they are doing the job that they were intended for.
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It looks as if it's working really well, John
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One of our Passion flowers has decided to suddenly spring into life.
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No real rain in our part of the island as yet but we decided to take a walk this morning in the area of the Akrotiri Marshes and Salt Lake to see if there was any sign of new life appearing. All very dry and nothing really stirring but we did come across the tree in the photo below which was a bit disappointing. The tree is Cordia myxa and although I believe the fruit are edible, never tried them so can neither confirm nor deny, they are usually used here to make the glue that poachers coat glue sticks with for catching small songbirds.
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My previous post was not quite accurate we did find this rather stunted thistle, bravely hanging in there.
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Pity the Cordia is managing to survive and produce fruits if they are used in the way you described John.
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Unfortunately using lime sticks and mist nets to catch small songbirds for pickling, although illegal, is a lucrative occupation. The main excuse used to justify it is; "It's part of our culture". We even had a Member of Parliament who used to boast about how many he could eat at a sitting.
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Not a morning walk but a morning drive, yesterday, to a couple of places that are, shall we say, a little out of the ordinary when it comes to the plants they grow.
The first photo is of a Podranea ricasoliana being grown almost as a standard at the entrance to a family run nursery.
Two is a very large Litchi chinensis in the same nursery.
Three is in a different establishment, one that specialises in extremely unusual plants, many of which I have never seen growing anywhere else on the island. This is Ziziphus mauritiana.
Four is Diospyros nigra, the chocolate pudding fruit tree.
Five is Petrea volubilis, a plant I first encountered on the MGS AGM in Mallorca.
Six is a real teaser. I was tempted to use it in the What is it? thread. Maybe we could have a mini test here before I say what it is. Any takers?
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The last photo on the above post is of a vine, Momordica cochinchinensis. No wonder that locally this has been reduced to Gac fruit.
The name Momordica comes from the Latin, to bite. Apparently the seeds appear to have been bitten. I cannot confirm this as I have never seen them.
The cochinchinensis refers to the area of South Vietnam that once went under the name of Cochinchina. Gac is derived from the Vietnamese word for the fruit.
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Not a morning walk but a late afternoon stroll. Following an intensive few days picking olives (not an easy task at our advancing ages) we felt the need to stretch the legs and take in some cool evening air. So we decided to take a look at the clifftop above Kourion to see if the recent short rain showers had brought forth any life. The answer was not a lot but we did find a few Narcissus serotinus and Ranunculus bullatus.
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Again not a morning walk but a quick trip to a local hardware store to collect a couple of small items when I spotted the following sign. They are really beginning to branch out I thought. It was a bit early for a drink but I couldn't find the bar anyway so that solved that dilemma.
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Just a few of the plants that were in flower on this morning's stroll.
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Our Rosa moschata is beginning to make its grand entrance.
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Although we have had virtually no rain so far this season, and certainly nothing like the catastrophic downpours that have caused such devastation in Greece, the narcissus are beginning to make their annual appearance. I never cease to be amazed by how such delicate plants can punch their way through the hardest of surfaces, even in areas frequented by vehicles belonging to 'hunters'.
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A group of non-gardeners at Sparoza last week remained unimpressed by a drift of Narcissus serotinus in 'Derek's garden'. Weird people.
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A couple of the flowers that caught my eye as I went out to work in the garden this morning.
Also, on the Sparoza thread I mentioned a project that my wife is involved in. Along with a group of other villagers, she is helping to produce items to be used as prizes in a raffle in order to raise money to pay towards creating a garden on neglected land adjacent to the main village church. So, at the moment the seating area outside our kitchen door has been taken over as a workspace. I shudder to think what the meeting room at the church looks like with several people all working on different projects.
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Our two Brugmansia are beginning to put on a show. The Thunbergia alata and T. grandiflora are hanging in there too.
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I took a walk this morning with my 6 year old granddaughter to see the dam. We took pictures of the surroundings and the river bed. As you can see there is very little water running. It is February, supposedly the coldest and wettest month of the year, but we have brilliant sunshine.
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Deeply worrying!
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In the dim and distant past a previous administration obviously thought it would be a good idea to erect a small fountain at the entrance to the village. I can't recall it ever working, or even being connected to a water supply. Anyway, the current administration put it on the list of items that required improving in some aspect. So, I planted it up with Ruschia pulvinaius a tough little plant that will survive a certain amount of abuse, including infrequent watering. In bloom it is covered in tiny, pink, daisy-like flowers. It is doing what I had hoped and cascading over the rim of the trough while adding a soft, green touch to what I consider to be a rather ugly introduction to the village.
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What a happy lion. I think it would cheer me up every time I walked past it. Thoughtful planting too.
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What a lovely idea, John. How long ago did you plant it?
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I planted it up in March of last year, Alisdair.
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It seems that the current village administration is of the same opinion as myself regarding the lion fountain. As we were driving out of the village around lunchtime we saw the foreman of the maintenance workers and he was scoping out a new, less prominent location to move Fleur's happy lion to. Possibly end up outside one of the village's lesser churches.
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Not a great photo but perhaps gives some idea of the Ruschia in flower.
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Yellow - the colour of Spring.
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Just a few random photos taken this morning, no particular theme in mind.
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Today's morning walk provided a few photos, including one showing that it's apple blossom time.
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Thanks for taking us on this gorgeous walk, John - I can almost smell that apple blossom!
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I missed it on my early morning bimble but our tiny Coronilla valentina has flowered for the first time.
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What a beautiful flower John and you have captured it perfectly. Such an intricate design and it reminds us to look more closely at times to really appreciate the wonderful diversity of flowers.
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It's jasmine time and the scent is amazing, while our 3 different Angel's Trumpets open to greet the new day.
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Wow, John! Weird coincidence, before I'd seen your posting I'd put an angel's trumpet as today's picture on the cover of the MGS Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mediterraneangardensociety).
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Possibly because of the shortage of rain this winter our Damask Roses have been late to open.
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I am not a great aficionado of cactus and succulents but I realised that I have been neglecting to feature some of the ones that we do have.
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This morning it was great to see the first Dietes flower of the year.
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On today's walk I was pleased to see the first of the wild Sword lilies (Gladiolus italicus) beginning to open in parts of our garden. These were once used to decorate Christ's tomb on Good Friday, perhaps due to the fact that they were believed by some to be one of the lilies of the field mentioned in the Gospels. I was less pleased, however, to see one flower being devoured by a caterpillar. Anyone recognise the culprit?
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I asked this same question on a Facebook group, Bulbs in Habitat, and so far the only comment I've received is that it is probably one of thousands of Hawk Moths.
A second comment a few days later suggested the Humming Bird Hawk Moth.
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A little hazy and overcast today, whether due to cloud or dust in the atmosphere is unclear.
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This morning's walk concentrates on the Hibiscus flowers growing in our western boundary hedge.
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Always sad John when visiting old haunts that have suffered from increasing urbanisation. I remember my disappointment as a child when the flood meadows on the edge of our town were drained and a large housing estate built. No more spring walks to admire the Lady's Smocks and Marsh Marigolds, particularly enjoyable for me sloshing about in wellington boots.....
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I'd love to be sloshing about in wellies, Carole, but with daytime temps already climbing into the mid-20s C everyone is looking out their shorts and T shirts here. The weather pattern has gone crazy.
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We were lucky enough to be taken for drive to an olive grove in the foothills of Taygetus near Polovitsa, last weekend.
Here are a few photos of some of the wild flowers we saw
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A few days ago I posted some photos of hibiscus flowers. Today our Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Cooperi' decided to join in.
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Californian poppies are obviously not native to Cyprus but they have become a common sight in some areas of the island, especially in parts of the Troodos Range. The ones in our garden are beginning to appear.
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Following a rare, but badly needed and decidedly welcome, splash of rain the air and ground this morning had a much fresher feel. The plants also seemed to appreciate it, so I extended the time taken in my regular morning walk (it turned into a two cups job!) in order to take more photos of the flowers that were in evidence. Then I had the idea that maybe some forumers might like to have a bit of fun identifying them. So, here goes with the first batch...
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OK, having eased you into it gently perhaps something a touch harder?
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Don't relax yet, perhaps a little harder still?
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And just a few more to finish off with!
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What an amazing array of plants you grow, John!
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That's just a fraction of the whole, Alisdair. We have a local friend who is a retired schoolteacher and now devotes his time to finding and photographing plants, especially Cyprus native ones. He calls round to our house from time to time to see what's in flower for him to photograph. He called in last Wednesday while we had a group from the Limassol U3A here with 2 visiting members from Slovenia (that's another story) and he told them that Thea should make a mosaic sign for outside our gate saying; 'Botanical Garden'. A bit 'over the top' but a nice compliment all the same.
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Gosh John where do you find the time and energy to accomplish all you do?
Enjoyed the challenge but fell woefully short - some are new to me but also the members starts to let me down!
Anyway to show my appreciation of your efforts both in the garden and on the Forum here are my conclusions
1. Poppy
2. Nasturtiums. ( love the 2nd)
3. Thungbergia
4. Hibiscus
5. Phlomis
6. Lavender stoechs
7. Coronilla
8. Iris germanica
9. -
10. Gerbera
11. Salvia?
12. -
13. -
14. Passion Flower
15. - ? Should know but....
16. Pelargonium
17. Solanum jasminoides
18. Euryops????
19. -
20. -
21. Salvia viridis
22. Echium candidens
23. -
24. White Daisy! But Erigeron karvinskianus in background.....bonus point?!
25. Nigella
26. -
27. -
28. Durantia " Geisha Girl"?
29. -
30. Eucryphia?
31. Teucrium fruticans
32. Convolvulus cneorum
33. Strelitzia
34. -
Whew - off to do some gardening now.
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Well done, Carole, brave effort. Taking them one section at a time, the first is:
Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)
Nasturtiums x 2
You missed the orange flower with the recurved petals.
Thunbergia alata
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
Phlomis lunariifolia
Lavender yes but Lavendula dentata the leaves don't show.
Coronilla valentina
Iris germanica
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A few missing from the second batch.
Gerbera yes
Salvia yes, but which one?
Passion flower, I don't know the species.
Pelagonium graveolens
Yes to the solanum but I think we are supposed to call it S. laxum these days.
Not Euryops
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To finish up.
Salvia but not viridis
Echium yes
The white daisy is Erigeron karvinskianus well spotted.
Nigella yes
The Duranta erecta is a variety called 'Sweet Memories'.
Teucrium, Convolvulus and Strelitzia all yes.
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Carole, I realise I owe you an apology regarding the Salvia viridis as there is some argument about whether or not it is the same plant as Salvia horminum which is the name I know it by. The one we have is a variety known as 'Pink Sunday'. Even this tends to be rendered as 'Pink Sundae' by some. As there is also a variety known as 'Blue Monday' I would lean towards the day rather than the dessert. These plant names can be a minefield. :-\
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It was good fun John and a nice Easter diversion. I find my memory fails me at times with plant names but it is always good to give it some exercise. - remembering new classifications is more difficult though.......
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I know what you mean. For instance the orange flower with the recurved petals used to be called Senecio confusus, which was easy to remember and meant I wasn't the only 'confused old man' in the garden! Now it seems we have to call it Pseudogynoxis chenopodioides. ???
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Can't even pronounce that one easily John so shall never remember it!
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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a drive we took in the foothills of Taygetus to see a certain olive grove. On our way we passed these lupins growing by the roadside among olive trees. I was told they might have been sown as green manure to improve the soil. It was one of the days when the sky was overcast and heavy with the dust from Africa
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Beautiful John both in form and colour - a good garden addition especially if they help to improve the soil.
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Hi Carole, much as I would like to take the credit the photos belong to Hilary. 8)
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We have a lot to thank Hilary for.....so thanks again this time to Hilary for yet more lovely photographs.
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Hear, hear! I couldn't agree more.
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No morning walk today, Greek Orthodox Easter Monday, as we have a mix of sun and rain with thunder rolling around the mountains. Hopefully it will improve before the village celebrations get under way this afternoon and evening.
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That's very generous of you John considering the drought situation in your area that you have been mentioning. I on the other hand felt quite cheated when a beautifully warm sunny weekend, with temperatures reaching the mid twenties, was followed yesterday by a day of heavy rain preventing a visit from my wrought iron specialist to take measurement for a proposed archway over a small patio. Not the first time he had had to postpone his visit with the changeable weather we have been experiencing. Che sara, sara.....
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The early spring weather has brought out a lot of blooms.
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And a few more.
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A much cooler day today than of late, but still no sign of rain!
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Lovely flowers.
What is the white one?
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Thanks, Hilary. It's Dietes bicolor.
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Bit late posting this but it's been a busy day. 'J T Barber' decided to join the party this morning.
Correction, 'J T Barber' is still getting spruced up, this is 'Desert Moon' putting in a daytime appearance.
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Another 'Desert Moon' being joined by, I believe, 'Elektra'.
I've done it again! I got the wrong lady, it isn't the ancient 'Elektra' but a more modern 'Kathy Frost'.
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A few of our more delicate specimens.
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Life has been a little too busy of late for leisurely morning walks, however today we were a bit more relaxed and so I was able to take a few more photos than usual.
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And the rest.
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What a lot of flowers in your garden
As a matter of interest what are numbers
4 red
5 orange ?
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Hi Hilary, that's just a selection.
The red flower is what I insist on still calling Senecio confusus although I am told I must now get used to referring to it as Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides. The flowers open orange and then age to the red of the ones shown.
The orange flower is Carthamus tinctorius, (Safflower). It is, I believe, one of the oldest plants grown as a crop. It had several uses. It was used as a cheap substitute for saffron and was referred to as 'bastard saffron', if you'll pardon my language. The seeds were, and are, used to produce safflower seed oil. Textiles from ancient Egypt have been shown to have been coloured using a dye from the plant.
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Not exactly a morning walk today, more of a morning stagger as we arrived back home from the MGS excursion to Italy in the very early hours of this morning. Arose a little later than usual, still half asleep, but was shocked into wakefulness by the sight that greeted us on opening the kitchen door. Our very first flower of Epiphylum 'Candy Crush'.
More about the trip once we have returned to what passes for normality.
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Good to see the flower of Carthamus tinctorus named after receiving seeds from you in Italy John.
The name was new to me and I Googled it but to see your 'photo is much better. Lovely unusual colour so I hope I can get some plants going - seeds not being my strong point!
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On page 9 of this thread my wife posted a reply (#131) of me sorting out the irrigation on part of the area outside our main village church. She has now insisted that I post a couple of photos of how a small part of the plantings is progressing. The prostrate rosemary on the upper tier is beginning to tumble over and soften the edge, while the salvias in the lower tier are filling out and doing a similar job. She has been asked by several people in the village what the blue flowers are.
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Morning walks have been a bit rushed of late but today was slower paced with coffee in one hand and camera in the other.
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Have to be up and about early to catch the flowers of our Bauhinia forficata at their best as, unlike its relative B. variegata that flowers in spring, it waits until the hottest time of the year to bloom.
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How quickly to those bauhinia flowers go over, John?
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They open overnight, Alisdair, and with our tree getting the sun as it rises and with the heat we're experiencing at the moment, 30+degrees daily, they only last a few hours before withering. The photo shows one of the same flowers from this morning taken a few minutes ago when I saw your post, that is around 13.30 our time.
By the way ignore the timings shown above my posts, for some reason they are roughly 2 hours behind the actual time.
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What a shame that such beautiful flowers last such a short time. Looks as if there are plenty to come though.....are they scented?
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It does flower well, often right through July and into August, the hottest period of the year. Unfortunately I've never detected a scent. They don't appear to be overly popular, possibly because they are an untidy tree that needs to be frequently cleared of lots of little dead twigs. This can be a painful job as the twigs and branches are covered in small but nasty spikes. Probably another reason for its unpopularity, you don't want to brush against it. The photo shows what I mean.
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Today's morning walk was a little out of the ordinary. The temperature has risen to heights that make it impossible to work in the garden, or even to walk around it in comfort, so we decided to head up the mountain to see if it was any cooler and also how the Troodos Botanical Garden was faring. It was 2 or 3 degrees cooler but any benefit was nullified by the attentions of the tiny biting midges that are prevalent in that area at certain times of the year. Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised to see that Andreas, the Forester in charge, had scattered some of the seeds we had given him on our last visit at the start of the year. Sunflowers, Evening Primroses, Nigella and Carthamus tinctorius were growing and either in flower or had already done so.
We had also left him some small plants and some of these were in evidence too. A Rolanda petasites, Cestrum nocturnum and various salvias. The photos are not great but they show an area where the salvias were planted, a Salvia interrupta and a Salvia 'Anthony Parker' (an offspring of one of yours, David). Being Sunday Andreas was off duty so we'll have to find an opportunity to go back again soon to see him.
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Good work John and nice to see your plants being well cared for. A very brief storm the other day has freshened the air here slightly but, as with you, work in the garden is difficult unless undertaken very early. Time to sit back a bit and enjoy the fruits of well chosen, climate adapted plants.
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Tried working in the garden this morning early but was so hot and humid had to cease and desist. So took out camera and looked for subjects. Even that was not straightforward as perspiration was dripping onto camera screen. Nevertheless some plants are bravely combating the conditions and trying to put on a show.
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What a collection you have, John!
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If I am correct one of the flowers featured is Salvia 'Love and Wishes' ?
Mine are standing up to the high temperatures we are experiencing surprisingly well considering it is a 'soft' Salvia - not a woody based one with small leaves. Even one in more or less full sun is coping well but is not as big as those that get some relief. I should add they are all in pots and so do get water.......
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You are correct, Carole, it is Salvia 'Love and Wishes'. It's the one that Sonia bought for Charithea while we were in Italy in May. As you can see it has already recovered from being pruned back severely in order to fit into the hand luggage. It too is in a pot in partial shade at the front of the house, so it also gets water.
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Very hot, very dry, little water but still some plants manage to flower bravely on.
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A few of the fruits of our labours, although 2 very dry winters that provided little or no deep water has reduced the overall cropping of most trees considerably.
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David, I've been instructed to post the following photos of a couple of the plants that you gave to Thea in May, and have just flowered. Hibiscus trionum and Salvia 'Royal Bumble' (if I've got that right!). She also says to say Thank you.
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It's been a while since I took my camera into the garden while wandering around with my morning coffee, so I thought I'd take a few photos today of what was in flower. Once I started I was surprised at how many there were. I've chosen 10, as per the restrictions imposed by the Forum.
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I love your morning walks, John; thanks for all those sights (and scents?).
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Hilary posted about Pancrateum maritimum and Drimia maritima on her Postage Stamps of the World thread. Our Pancrateum are well in flower now and the first Drimia has put up a flower spike.
Also, despite the intense heat and the fact that we have had no rain for over 6 months our Euphorbia dendroides has decided it's time to start putting on leaves.
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Not a morning walk but an evening one. Last night the Antiquities Department opened the site of the ruins of the ancient city of Kourion, situated on the clifftop overlooking the bay and facing the modern city of Limassol. This was to allow people to wander the ruins in the light of the full moon. They also had a singer accompanied by a keyboard player performing in the theatre to provide a little background music. Not being a great photographer below is the best of the shots I took which doesn't do justice to the scene.
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Just seen your earlier posting John. Have been away from the forum for a while. The two plant names are correct. Remember the Hibiscus is an annual and you will need to collect seed if you want to see it again next year, Salvia "Royal Bumble" seems to be the easiest plant to grow in Rome. Hot summers, wet summers, cold winters, wet winters - nothing seems to stop it. Flowers for most of the year and cuttings take so easily. That's my experience of it, anyway. Hope it survives for you.
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Our long, hot summer continues unabated but several of our plants are keeping up appearances.
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In fact so many that I have had to do a second posting.
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Pleased to see you have some good yellow and orange specimens John - do you sneak those in when Charithea is not looking!
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Actually, Carole, I do find the Senna and the Tecoma bright and cheerful. The orange annuals are from seeds that Charithea scattered herself so I take no responsibility for them!
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Days are still very hot but nights are beginning to cool making the early mornings a pleasant time to be out and about.
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Not exactly a planting combination I would have chosen but Mother Nature seems to have thought differently. They can stay for now until we get around to sorting out that area.
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Back in the days of steam radio there was a song entitled 'Lonely little Petunia in an onion patch'. Well we have our own version, lonely little salvia in a tulbaghia patch.
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A salvia day.
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What is the name of the Salvia in the first 'photo John-? A beautiful colour.
I find Salvias very rewarding but the sheer number on offer these days quite challenging!
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It's Salvia splendens 'Martinus Borg'. I agree that the number of salvias on offer now is totally overwhelming.
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Carole, I saw this most beautiful Salvia 'Martinus Borg' in La Mortella in Ischia. Alessandra Vinciguerra gave me some cuttings but they didn't travel well. The one in the photo I got through David Dickinson from Le essence di Lea this Spring. He is a 'hero' of mine just like our Yiannos Orphanos with their helpful nature. I am hoping that this speciment will grow into a big one.
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David gave me a lot of salvia varieties when we met at the Lucca flower show recently. His willingness to share is amazing and a trait, that for me, marks out true gardeners who seem to have this desire to share both their knowledge and plants with fellow enthusiasts. Membership of the MGS has brought me quite a few contacts such as this - including of course you and John.
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For our morning walk today we drove to Paphos for a stroll around the old town. We were looking specifically for the 'living wall' that we heard had been created near to the Municipal Market. I have to confess to being undecided regarding an opinion of it.
I was perhaps more impressed by a couple of other walls that we came across in the same area. One had a beautiful graffiti mural and the explanation of the other is on the attached sign. My excuse for including them is that they do have a horticultural link through the amazing roses depicted on one and the stylised crocheted plant on the other! 8)
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Like it or not John, the luxuriant growth on the living wall is quite amazing......I wonder how it is sustained......?
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Carole, if you look at photo 3 you can see that the plants are all in individual pots in rows. Then on photo 1, not so obvious but down the wall on the far right is a black pipe coming from the roof. From this pipe irrigation lines go along each row of pots.
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Just to remind you of the living wall in Madrid
It is now several years old and some plants appear to do better than others
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Not my morning walk today but the result of several years of morning walks taken by our friend Michalis. He has produced a card showing many of the plants that he has photographed over the years, with their names. Sadly my attempting to photograph his photos does not do them justice.
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A mix of flowers and fruit today. The last one is bergamot.
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David, the Hibiscus trionum is one of yours.
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Yesterday I posted a photo of the first (unopened) flower on our Dragon Fruit. This morning we discovered it had opened overnight. My hand is for comparison of size.
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What a magnificent sight, John - so exotic!
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Just a couple of quick photos today as I have to dash out to an early meeting.
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We have just returned from the highly enjoyable MGS AGM in the Costa Blanca, preceded by the equally enjoyable pre-tour in Mallorca, to a Cyprus where daytime temperatures are still in the 20s with no sign of rain in the offing.
My morning walk today was more a closer look at what had survived in our absence and what may need some extra TLC. We were also greeted by a letter in the mailbox from the local Water Board warning that a cessation of irrigation water was a possibility if the situation did not improve in the very near future. Back down to earth with a bump.
We have plenty of seeds from our Pancratium for next year.
The last photos show the 3 stages of mutation of the Hibiscus mutabilis flowers.
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No morning walk today because this happened. :) Not prolonged, just short and sharp but no less welcome for that! It's freshened up the air, settled the dust and moistened the ground. Here's hoping there's more to come. :D
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When we stepped outside this morning we had a pleasant surprise. Despite the rain that we had yesterday and overnight (yes I did say rain, at long last) Epiphyllum 'Kathy Frost' had flowered. Unfortunately the light or the camera or whatever drains some of the colour from the photo, it's actually a shade deeper than it appears.
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So pleased you are getting some long awaited rain in Cyprus - I always find it amazing to see how things respond in the garden even after a small amount.
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Today's morning walk was preceded by a fairly long drive to the far eastern end of the island. As the rain yesterday and overnight had softened the ground and made it more workable we decided to pay a visit to a young man we know who owns a cactus and succulent nursery over that way. We have been re-organising areas of our garden in an attempt to combat some of the effects of the increasing shortage of water available for irrigation. One project involves replacing plants at the side of the house that are suffering from the strong summer sunlight they are exposed to, from dawn until early afternoon, with more succulents that can take the heat and lack of water.
The first photos are from that nursery.
While we were in the area we also took the opportunity to check out a Cactus and Sculpture Park that we had heard about.
The second batch of photos are from there.
Hilary, the last photo is for you. This handsome chap reminded us of your post about Athena and her owl.
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My goodness what a park!
There are a couple of cactus there I wouldn't go near with the proverbial barge pole although a ll my friends had one twenty odd year ago.
I love the owl
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Today being bright and sunny we ventured out for a short walk on the edge of the village. Not a lot of activity amongst the wild flowers, possibly due to the rains arriving very late this year. Below are a couple of photos that I took.
Anemone coronaria and Lycium ferocissimum, flower and fruit.
:) For this time of the year it really looks very nice.
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Welcome to the Forum, Bernhard. The photos you mention were taken 2 years ago after a spell of late rain. This year the rain has also arrived late with some quite heavy downpours over the last 2 or 3 days. Today has dawned bright and sunny so I was able to go out and assess the situation. Not many plants in flower, mainly the stronger ones or those that enjoy a bit of shelter from the incessant pounding. The Aeonium is beginning to unfurl its rosettes and the seeds of the Nandina add a bit of colour.
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John, I'm so glad for you and your rain! When we were in the Peloponnese last week we had several days of pretty heavy rain and hoped that there was so much of it in the system that it would reach you (it was heading that way). Things responded very quickly and enthusiastically, loads of speedy new green shoots after many dry months!
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After the rain has arrived at long last, with some days being dull but relatively dry, this morning we have bright sunshine and this single Cosmos flower is reflecting the sun beautifully.
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Following a period of much needed rain I decided to see what may be in flower. I was rather surprised at just how many there were.
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Christmas is upon us and as I was walking around I realised that Mother Nature was playing her part in the Festivities, in our garden at least.
In the absence of holly the Nandina was doing its best to act as substitute.
Perhaps the white fruit of the myrtle could replace those of the mistletoe. As for its other attribute whereby people kiss beneath its boughs, the myrtle is sacred to Aphrodite, the epitome of Love and Beauty. Bit of a tenuous connection I admit but maybe that can be forgiven at this time of the year.
The bitter orange, along with its brother and sister citrus trees, is decorated with ornamental baubles.
Who needs candles when they have the fiery spikes of the aloes to brighten up the gloom.
We even have a 'Crown of Thorns' although that does feature rather later in the story.
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Today I thought I would do something a little different for the morning walk, as it is a special day after all. So this is my Christmas Day morning walk.
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Stunning, John - lovely to see your garden. A very happy Christmas to you and Thea, from Helena and me.
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As it was a bright morning following heavy overnight rain we decided to pay a belated visit to the clifftop at Kourion, in the area around the Temple of Apollon Hylates, the Ancient Stadium and the ruins of an early Christian Basilica, to see how the wildflowers up there were faring. A few were flowering while others were beginning to show willing. Apologies for the poor quality of the photos probably due more to shortage of sleep from a late night than any excess of alcohol! 8)
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Having spent the last few days butchering a vastly overgrown bougainvillea we woke this morning to a dull, drizzly day so the morning walk had to be postponed until after lunch. Although usually associated with a different time of year we found that one of our passionflowers had decided it was time to burst into bloom. The Correa obviously didn't want to be left out and is full of flowers too.
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I spotted an Iris germanica flowering happily a week or so ago. It was in the planting on a roundabout at a particularly busy part of our town with little chance of photographing it safely. Climate change playing its part or just an aberration?
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Pushing the morning walk a bit but early on Monday we drove up the mountain to the Forestry Department nursery at Platania to pick up some Damask rose plants for the village church garden. As we were so close we decided to go a little higher to the Botanical Garden and call in on our friend Andreas. The photos show what we found, no-one there. I didn't have my camera but my wife had her i-pad and took the following shots.
The car park
The pond
The visitor centre
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Today we had not one but three walks. The first was in our own garden.
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The second walk was in our daughter's garden, the first 5 photos, and the third was around a spur of the reservoir from the Germasogia Dam below her house, the second 5 photos.
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Today's morning walk involved a 40 min drive to a 'local' village (which I won't name), to visit a venue (which I won't name). I had been told about this place and on Googling its website the photos looked inviting enough to warrant further investigation. However, on arrival I found it to be closed, and what I could see over the fence left me as cold as the wind blowing around my ears. (Hence the reluctance to name either it or the village in which it is situated).
All was not lost though as, on the drive up, the road was flanked by masses of anemones, and vast areas around the village were covered in anemones and romulea. The rather brisk wind that was blowing made photography a bit hit and miss.
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Not so much a morning walk today as a mid-day dash between the torrential rain showers in an effort to see which flowers were surviving the onslaught.
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Not so much surviving but flourishing I would say after your long period of drought John. So glad you are getting good rainfall now.
We are enjoying beautiful sunny days but very cold nights here in Italy and the bulbs are beginning to make show brightening the garden a little in patches. The Calycanthus is over but Lonicera fragrantissima, Daphne and Sarcococa continue to delight with their fragrance. Nice time of the year - full of anticipation for what is to come.
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I am in agreement with you Carole. Anticipation of what will pop up next keeps me walking around the garden every morning even in a heavy down pour. The perfume of tha Daphne and Sarcococa can only be immagined now. They refuse to grow here and even the Lonicera struggles. The last few trips to Italian and Spanish gardens made me aware of how many of their plants are also growing in our garden. The difference was that theirs were in their glory while ours just survived. Now with the heavy and continual rain ours are flourishing. So, long may the rainy season continue.
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Not so much an early morning walk today as a late morning one.
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What a great collection of flowers today.
What is the second one with the purple flowers.
It looks good enough to feature on a postage stamp!
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It would have to be an Australian one, Hilary. It's Hardenbergia violacea.
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I was following your discussion re Italy/Cyprus situation and your present spell of rainy weather and thought I would look around my very small garden to see what flowers were out. Rome is cold at the moment with very cold nights still so Cyprus winds hands down. But there were a few things on flower including some early crocuses which I didn't put in the photos below.
It is interesting to see that the red form of Anamatheca (Freesia) laxis flowers in spring. This pale blue form developed flower buds in late autumn and they opened a couple of weeks ago. That may be because I sowed the seeds last spring and this year it might settle down to spring flowering. I am hoping not for 2 reasons. Firstly, It is nice to have something which is winter flowering and, secondly, this way there will be no cross pollination and I will be able to produce seed of the subspecies 'Azurea'
Anamatheca (Freesia) laxis susp Azurea (which totally refused to behave while having its photo taken)
Bidens (orange) (Quite a lot of flowers but much smaller than those of the summer months)
Buddleja madagascariensis
Erysimum 'Red Jep'
Hardenbergia violacea Alba
Justicia brandegeeana
Salvia 'Anthony Parker' (A few remnants of flowers from last autumn)
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It would have to be an Australian one, Hilary. It's Hardenbergia violacea.
Like this one: https://www.anbg.gov.au/stamps/stamp-garden-a-2000.html (https://www.anbg.gov.au/stamps/stamp-garden-a-2000.html)
cheers
fermi
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That seems to be the only postage stamp featuring Hardenbergia violacea Fermi and I don't have it .
However , you have done the work for me .
The link looks useful also
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A rather wet and windy walk this morning, so I took just the one photo. This Alyogyne huegelii 'Santa Cruz' had buds ready to open yesterday so I was looking forward to seeing its first flowers of the season this morning. A severe thunderstorm overnight with heavy rain put an end to that. This morning dawned very windy with threats of possibly more rain to come so I may have to wait a bit longer to see it at its best.
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The high winds seem to have broken up the cloud and averted the threatened rain, at least for now, so I had another go at photographing the flowers that have now opened. Problem was they wouldn't stay still while I did it.
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Lovely John - beautiful arrangement of petals. I tried it here once but with no success. Glad you are still getting rain- we are enjoying weeks of sunshine and unusually high daytime temperatures but really need some rain as we have had very little this winter and the recent Tramontana winds have further dried the soil.
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Following a wet Sunday, Monday has dawned bright and sunny although a little chilly. So I have taken a few photos of what is in flower, both cultivated and wild.
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So glad you got out for such a set of sunlit beauties, John, after spending so much time locked into sorting out all the stuff you've been having to do, setting up the Society's trip to Jordan next year!
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Due to a variety of reasons my morning strolls have been severely limited of late, so this morning I made a special effort to go out and see what was in flower.
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My garden is producing these flowers at the moment. First, a better photo of Anomatheca laxa susp Azurea than the last one. Then, Crocus 'Cream Beauty', Leucojum vernum, Narcisus 'Ice Follies', 'Itzim' and 'Tete a Tete', Scilla tuberginiana, Vinca difformis 'Jenny Pym' and Vinca minor 'Illumination'
I am having great success with Vinca major 'Maculata' in deep shade and slightly less success with Vinca minor (both the blue and the white forms) in the same area. None of them have flowered but the 'Maculata' has lovely leaves and is spreading nicely. The Vinca minor is slowly spreading but I think I will move it to a slightly less shady place. This success prompted me to experiment with the two Vincas included in the photos and a purple version of Vinca minor. They were bought in the UK last are autumn and are still in the pots where I put them, in constant but light shade.
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Thanks for the names, David! (And of course the lovely pictures....)
- Originally I'd wrongly attributed the pictures to John - until Carole kindly corrected me. Sorry, David!
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Think you mean David in this case Alisdair.......but I add my thanks too!
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I had another look around my garden yesterday morning (blustery weather so apologies for the poor focus of some of the photos). I discovered that my white variety of Vinca minor had, after what I had said in my previous post, decided to send up a flower! Others in flower were:
Clematis armandii
Crocus 'Firefly' (not as successful as I had hoped in giving the vase "hair" as it is all flower and no leaves at present)
Geranium macrorrhizum Album
Ipheion peregrinans 'Rolf Fiedler'
Kerria japonica single (now that I have a dappled shade spot I have finally managed to grow this - see my earlier postings on thishttp://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=1575.msg10850#msg10850 )
Narcisus 'Bellsong'
Vinca minor ‘Atropurpurea’
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How lovely to be greeted with all this beauty early in the morning.
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These are so lovely, thanks for sharing the photos. I especially loved seeing the Vinca minor, I've not had a chance to see it in a while, it grew so well in the woods by our house when I was a child.
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How exciting to be starting your first garden - and in Majorca - hope you find this Forum both interesting and useful. Look forward to hearing about your successes .....and failures ( that we all have!) Welcome and good luck.
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Hello Arj, welcome to the forum and, as Umbrian says, you must be really excited this spring to be starting a new garden :)
Today, what was supposed to be Crocus 'Ruby Giant' gave me a bit of a surprise. There are also some flowers opening on what I am presuming is a Freesia sp. I never did find out what they are, exactly. Last year there were no flowers as the plants were cut back to ground level with the 'Beast from the East" This year I must check if there is a 3 pointed bract. ref my posting for help with identification here http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=2303.0
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One of the first sights that greeted us on our return from leading a group on a long weekend in Athens.
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Spring would appear to be on the way.
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Lovely, John; what's the iris?
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I'm not absolutely sure, Alisdair, but I think it's a variety of Iris x hollandica.
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Very likely: thanks!
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The unusual weather pattern continues with the rain returning overnight and appearing to be setting in for the day, not heavy but persistent.
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Unable to take any photos this morning as winter seems to have returned with a vengeance. The temperature has plummeted, heavy overnight rain has beaten down many of the delicate plants and the dark grey skies are threatening more of the same. This year the old saying about March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb seems to have been turned completely on its head.
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Hi John. Our night time temperatures have certainly fallen and it has been cold the last couple of nights (5°C last night according to the forecast). Days, though, are lovely. Here are a few photos. An Iris which I do not know the name of, a lovely brick-red Osteospermum, my first Eschscholzia californica flower and Daffodil 'Amazing Grace'. The Daffodil is new this year so it remains to be seen if it will survive the summer.
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Forgot to ask, John, what is the flower in the 3rd photo of your 29/3 post in this thread?
Cheers
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To be honest, David, I don't know. They came up in a place that we planted Acidanthera bulbs some years ago. They put up foliage but never flowered and then disappeared. Now this year these have come up, they seem to have a similar shaped flower to the ones we planted but the colouring is all wrong.
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Beautiful Osteospernum David, something I was hoping to get established in my more sheltered town garden but so far no joy - must try again this summer.
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Gladiolus tristis perhaps? It does seed itself around, and flowers quite quickly from seed.
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Certainly a possibility, Alisdair, but if so I've no idea where they came from. The only things I can recall planting in that position were Acidanthera murielae that I brought back from Chelsea several years ago but that never flowered before disappearing altogether. I can't even believe that they were mistakenly labelled as I shared them with my sister in UK before I left and hers flowered for a couple of years before calling it a day.
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Alisdair, Thea might have solved the mystery. She was sorting through some old seed packets and found an envelope with "seeds from cream lily-like flowers, Sparoza" written on it. So, does Sally have Gladiolus tristis growing there?
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Yes, she does - and she complains that it seeds itself about there rather too freely!!
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... and arriving at our Greek house yesterday, we found it in full flower, some already gone over - and it's seeded itself here and there too.
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Thanks John and Alisdair for the information re Gladiolus tristis. I have just checked and Chantal has it in her seed bank for any members who might be interested.
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Winter also back here with very heavy rain and cool days and cold nights. At least that might spur the seeds into action. I fear that a couple of weeks ago many of mine may have cooked! A few flowers around though. Freesia "Blue Moon" and a red hybrid. Also an Iris that I vaguely recall buying about 10 years ago (and which I thought had died just as many years ago) has sprung up from nowhere. I will have to seek out some of my old records to see if I can find its name.
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Today is a very miserable day here in Rome so here are a few photos I took yesterday. Two very pale flowers, Narcissus 'Polar Ice' and Aquilegia hybrid, to contrast with the bold yellow of Erysimum linifolium 'Fragrant Sunshine'. The latter is a new plant but it seems to be doing very well. Let's see how it copes with the summer heat.
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Lovely Narcissus David....
I have always thought Erysium should do well in Italy but have never managed to keep them for long. "Bowles Mauve" is an old favourite that I have tried on several occasions and have just obtained again along with a beautiful deep red - orange hybriid one called ' Red Jep'
All the more annoying as I have seen wild yellow ones growing prolifically in old walls in my area.
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Hi Umbrian
I am having success with perennial Erysimums here in Rome. My 'Bowles Mauve is just coming into flower and has been with me for 3 years. It is in a slightly shady spot but is doing very well. I have taken cuttings as they have a reputation for being short lived. Let's hope they take. I also have 'Red Jep' which is now full of flowers. (I posted a photo in this thread as it was just coming into flower, p20 (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=2229.msg19725#msg19725)). I have had that since last spring and from being a very small plant it is now almost as big as my 'Bowles Mauve' It is in full sun from early morning to late afternoon. The Erysimum linifolium 'Fragrant Sunshine' was bought in the UK a couple of months ago, So far it seems to be doing well
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Thanks for the encouragement David.....if at first you don't succeed.....
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Morning walk is a bit of a misnomer today. My usual strolls have been rather curtailed recently for a variety of reasons, but this evening I made a special effort to record a few of the plants that are in flower. Not without its trials I might add as the mosquitoes seem to be especially active at this time, and there are a lot of them. My hands and face being the main targets for their attention.
Anyway, below are some of the photos I managed to get.
I don't name the plants that I put on these posts as I like to give members a bit of a test to see if they recognise them. If not they can always ask.
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After some very much needed rain last weekend things are really moving in the garden now with Cistus, Iris and Roses bursting into flower. However the purpose of this post is to praise the longevity of my Coronilla glauca that first came into flower in early March and is still going strong providing a bright splash of colour and a rich hunting ground for bees. Some spring flowering shrubs are over very quickly once temperatures rise and the sun more in evidence but the Coronilla seems to thrive in these conditions. Am going to try to add a photo but am having trouble with my Photogene⁴ app still......
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Good, managed to reduce that photo sufficiently!
As you will see from the date it was taken in early April and the plant is still in full bloom with no signs of going over yet.
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Carole I also think Coronilla valentina is worth growing. Our is now setting seeds but it has been flowering for a long time. I was impressed by their size and beauty when I saw them in Greece a month ago, so on our return I have sown some more seeds in other parts of the field. I hope I will have success.
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Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday and I was about to do a quick round of the garden before our visitors descended but first had to photograph a couple of the table settings.
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A few of the snaps I took before the visitors arrived.
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John, what rose is that, climbing up your tree so beautifully? And - Happy Easter to you and Thea!
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Thanks, Alisdair. It's a white Banks' rose.
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Early evening, 12 visitors fed, watered, entertained and departed as peace descends once more and we prepare for the clearing up before we can relax with a beverage of choice, preferably a strong one!
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Not a morning walk but a morning drive, as we decided to pay a visit to the Troodos Botanical Garden to see how things had fared over the winter and wet spring.
My wife was pleased to see that the Salvia 'Anthony Parker' that she had given to the Forester in charge last year had survived being covered in snow and was beginning to regrow. Hopefully some of the other salvias will have been just as resilient.
I took a few photos of a couple of the plants that were in flower.
Viola sieheana is a scentless violet that is fairly common in the Troodos above 800 m.
Paeonia mascula grows in the pine forests above 1,300 m.
It looked so tempting that we drove to the Forestry Department nursery, further down the mountain at Platania, to see if they had any. They did and we got 2 to see if we could provide them with a semblance of the conditions they need at our much lower altitude. Time will tell. While there we also picked up 2 more Salvia willeana, a Cyprus endemic, to join the one we already have growing, and a Viburnum opulus as a back up to the one we acquired last year.
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Probably not a colour combination that would be chosen by, or appeal to, many but these self-sown Delphinium staphisagria are growing through a Lantana camara outside our boundary wall.
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Our 'Desert Moon' is on the rise again, possibly over 'Madagascar'.
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'Kathy Frost' decided to don her finery and join the party this morning.
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This morning I was struck by the number of salvias in flower. From the top:
Salvia 'Amistad'
S. clevelandii
S. 'Pink Sunday'
S. farinaceae
S. interrupta
S. 'Dancing Dolls'
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There are, of course, other things in flower too. Such as:
Medlar
Delphinium staphisagria
Hollyhock
Nigella
Spartium junceum
Centranthus ruber
Gaura
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Several years ago I got hold of some seeds of Argemone mexicana and they self-seeded around until one year they suddenly failed to appear. We basically forgot about them, then a few weeks ago a single plant came up in an area well away from the original planting zone. This morning I went out to be greeted by the first flower.
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What a great surprise!
Do you have a plan/map of your garden where every plant is noted?
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I wish, Hilary! We have to rely on memory which is, unfortunately, becoming less reliable with the advancing years! At a very rough estimate we must have between 2 and 3 hundred species of plants in the garden so trying to map them all would be a Herculean task, one that quite honestly I don't have the time for.
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Yesterday I had an afternoon stroll in our daughter's garden.
Her Bauhinia variegata 'Candide' is much smaller than ours but just as floriferous.
Lycianthes rantonettii.
Her Cleronendrum bungei is ahead of ours.
She has a Justicia adhadota which we don't have.
Her yellow Banks' rose has recovered from a severe pruning we had to give it in the autumn as it was getting out of control.
When you're young, like mulberries and are your yiayia's granddaughter you don't need a ladder to pick them.
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More of our epiphyllums have opened overnight. I won't name them as we are beginning to doubt the accuracy of some of the names given to us by the supplier of the cuttings and need to investigate further.
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I like the peach coloured one
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Hilary, that one was given to us as 'King Midas'. I have found photos of flowers online that are the same colour and labelled as 'King Midas', but I have also found others under that name that are more orange. Orange, or yellow, would seem to be more appropriate colours for Midas considering his association with gold, but who knows!
With regard to an earlier photo that I posted as 'Kathy Frost', I'm now more inclined to believe that it should be 'Orange Crush'.
Again regarding an earlier post when I said we probably had between 2 and 3 hundred species of plants, an inspection of my rudimentary card index system shows it to be closer to 400. Yes, I confess to being the kind of old-fashioned administrator who prefers written records to relying on the foibles of technology.
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Two more of our hybrids have opened this morning. We are fairly sure that the first is 'Ambrosia' but the identity of the second is still under debate.
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Our Hemerocallis fulva have been in flower for a while but this morning we noticed that the 'Wild Horses' had decided to gallop onto the scene too.
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We get up very early but this industrious little guy was obviously up even earlier.
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Last autumn David Dickinson in Rome sent my wife a whole batch of seeds. Some were in pots in the front of the house and this morning I walked out to be greeted by the very attractive flower pictured below. The amazing cobalt-blue of Convolvulus tricolor 'Royal Ensign'. Thank you, David.
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Despite the daily temperatures nudging 40 C our Bauhinia forficata insists on waiting until this time of year to flower.
The Wisteria has also decided to have a last fling.
Hibiscus tiliaceus come from wet, swampy areas apparently but ours survives with minimal water and has been flowering profusely for a couple of weeks with no sign of stopping soon.
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Our morning walks have been few and far between of late, due mainly to the heat and external pressures, but we realised that with the AGM fast approaching and the MGS excursion to Jordan looming on the horizon we needed to begin to up our fitness levels. The daytime temperature down here near the coast being in the high 30s we decided that the best option was to set off really early and head up the mountain in search of somewhere cooler. The Kaledonia Falls Nature Trail through mostly pine forest seemed as good a choice as any. So it proved with a temperature around 21/22C, the shade of the trees and the cooling sound of rushing water by our side.
The photos show the falls.
Quercus alnifolia (Cyprus Golden Oak) and Arbutus andrachne that make up the majority of the understorey in the pine forest.
Euphorbia veneris.
A rather sorry-looking plant that I believe is Centaurea aegialophila but I'm prepared to be corrected.
Clematis vitalba.
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Didn't need to walk far this morning to find this flower open on an Epiphyllum 'Ambrosia'.
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Our various water-lilies are beginning to come into their own, including a new miniature one. It's actually more orange-looking than it appears in the photo.
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This morning we decided to try to escape the worst of the heat by driving up the mountain and taking a look at the area of the Atalante Nature Trail in the pine woods. At this time of the year we didn't find much in flower but we did come across 2 little gems in the endemics Dianthus strictus ssp troodi and Saponaria cypria.
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Your two lovely little morning walk plants made me realise for the first time that the soapworts are in the same plant family as the pinks!
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Following on from last week's trip up the mountain we decided this week to go a little higher to try out the Artemis Nature Trail. This is a circular route of 7 km that circles the top of the mountain at a height of between 1820 and 1860 m asl.
At one point we came across a sight that had us wondering just how far we had walked and if we were still on the same island!
???
The North Face ski centre and ski-lift were not in operation either.
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Carrying on from the above we did find a few endemics, although not many were in flower at this time of year. The last 2 are not endemics.
Nepeta troodi
Pterocephalus multiflorus
Dianthus strictus ssp troodi
A small Cedrus brevifolia
Genista fasselata var crudelis
Saponaria cypria
Cirsium vulgare not endemic
Self explanatory.
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The temperature at this end of the Med is not letting up yet and has added humidity to make it even more uncomfortable. Yesterday when I returned to my car after dropping off grandson at his football training the temperature gauge was registering 42C.
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Today in an attempt to escape the heat, currently registering 38C down here, we drove up the mountain to a village I have never visited before, Gerakies. Beautifully located with stunning views over the Marathasa Valley it would appear to be on the decline. According to an elderly resident in the local coffee shop in his lifetime it has gone from over a thousand residents to a mere 60 today. A great shame. We decided to walk the Ariadne Nature Trail that circles the mountain above the village. This proved to be rather steep for much of the way, with paths of loose rock. What goes up must come down and so the descent into the village was equally steep and loose. I managed to turn my left knee and ended the walk with a swollen knee and a badly bruised ego. I also only managed to get one photo. :-[
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For today's walk we stayed a bit closer to home, a short drive to the top of the cliffs at Kourion and the site of the Ancient Stadium. It was very hot even in the early morning and we found little to photograph. A squirting cucumber and the first Drimia of the season.
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This morning we headed up the mountain once more and found the following.
Saponaria cypria.
Crocus troodi.
Sideritis cypria.
Hibiscus trionum.
Phlomis lunariifolia.
Thymus capitatus.
Mentha longifolia ssp cyprica. This one was difficult to photograph being so small and growing in heavy shade.
We left a little earlier than intended as a sudden thunderstorm rolled in and we thought it prudent to get out from under the trees. The good thing was that as we drove down the mountain we did not drive out from under the rain and it was still falling when we arrived home. Not heavily but enough to moisten the ground. Our first rain of the season, may there be a lot more. ;D
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Casual morning walks have been a bit few and far between lately, due to a variety of reasons, but this morning I got some shots of things that are currently in flower.
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Name of number 4 John.... the lovely orange colour?
I too have quite a bit of colour for the time of year mainly due to Salvias - so rewarding.
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Carole, it's a hybrid of the Black-eyed Susan, Thunbergia alata. The colour is not particularly accurate, it's rather more red than it looks in the photo. Alisdair suggested it might be a variety called, 'Arizona Dark Red'.
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Just out of interest the others are:
Sedum 'Thundercloud', though how it got its name I don't know as it doesn't look threatening to me.
Ipomoea carnea ssp fistulosa.
A variety of Cosmos.
Leucophyllum frutescens.
Obviously Bougainvillea.
Crithmum maritimum.
A rare Cyprus endemic, Centaurea akamantis.
Tecoma stans.
Salvia mexicana 'Limelight'.
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Went out this morning to find we had a new addition to our Cosmos flowers, none of which we have a name for. Alongside the orange, that we obtained from the owner of a garden on the outskirts of Rome that we had been taken to by our good friend and fellow MGS member, Keay Burton-Pierconti, who is sadly no longer with us, and the white that came from a packet of assorted varieties bought in England was a deep maroon(?) one, from the same packet.
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Thanks John - worth looking out for anyway.
Sedum'Thundercloud' does indeed have a strange name but
although not a great fan of Sedums I do like this one for its unusual leaves.
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Today's morning stroll took us up into the cool of the mountain and the Forestry Department nursery at Platania.
The first 2 photos being general shots of a couple of areas and the third has my wife, the Forester in charge and an assistant discussing the merits of different Cistus..
The 4th photo is of the plants we brought back.
After the nursery we called into the Botanical Garden to deliver some Alium seeds to the Forester in charge.
It was only a fleeting visit but we found the Salvia 'Anthony Parker' and S. 'Love and Wishes' that we gave them last year looking good and in flower.
The Sternbergia lutea were also beginning to pop up.
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Just a couple of quick early morning photos today as we have a busy one ahead.
The Melia is probably the closest we get to Autumn colour in our garden.
I found it difficult to get the true deep colour of the Salvia splendens 'Martinus Borg'.
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The MGS AGM in Athens has been mentioned in a few posts on the Forum this week and we arrived back from it in the early hours of this morning having been the victims of the dreaded delayed flights syndrome.
Anyway, I must confess that we did not attend all of the organised programme in Athens but did on one day take a morning walk in the Diomedes Botanical Garden.
The photos show:
An interesting way of introducing visitors to the garden.
Cyclamen were seen in abundance on the post tour to the Pelion area, but more of that later.
Clerodendrum chinense.
Bauhinia yunnanensis.
Two unnamed roses.
Clerodendrum bungei.
Justicia carnea.
Callistemon sp.
Perhaps this should be in the Wildlife in the Garden section.
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On another day we were taken by our good friends, Fleur and Nikos Pavlidis, to what I believe is the Vari area to see some ancient 'Herders' Graffiti'.
My photos of the writing didn't come out too well but below are a couple showing a ship and what is possibly a horse.
The cyclamen were well in evidence here too.
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Not exactly morning walks but the morning view of our hotel in the Pelion area of Greece on last week's MGS post AGM tour.
The last photo is of the Paulownia tomentosa outside our room window taking on its autumn colours.
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This trip did not involve a lot of walking but on the occasions we did there were cyclamen in abundance. On one walk along a beach, to view an old chapel that was near to a partially excavated ruin with a segment of mosaic floor, I found a small plant that I believe to be Cakile maritima.
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One of the highlights of the trip for me was the visit to this rather quirky garden created on an extremely steep slope going down to the sea. The planting palette was limited but for this situation it worked beautifully.
Views over the sea from the top of the garden.
Looking down the garden.
Looking back up from part of the way down.
Looking along a pathway.
A flock of sheep?
The summer bedroom.
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Beautiful John, thank you for sharing with us. Wonderful example of going with the flow of the natural beauty of a place, adding a few personal touches but retaining a harmony with its surroundings.
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As can be seen from the photos the rain has arrived at last. Apparently it was introduced by a severe storm while we were away in Greece. Obviously this is very welcome but it's playing havoc with our olive picking.
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Following the day of heavy rain at the end of October the daytime temperature has climbed back up to the high 20sC. Still some plants are beginning to come to life.
Thunbergia alata 'Arizona Dark red'.
Haemanthus albiflorus given to us earlier this year by friend and fellow MGS member Demetrios Michaelides, has begun to flower for the first time.
Wedelia trilobata is an excellent ground cover.
A variety of white Cosmos coupled with Salvia 'Mystic Spires'.
Correa backhouseana a reliable Australian.
Thunbergia grandiflora.
Salvia 'Dancing Dolls'.
Caliandra californica.
Cyclamen cyprium.
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No morning walk today 'cos I think it's raining. Not absolutely certain as it's been such a long time since I've seen any that it's something of a distant memory. :-\
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We are suffering deluges most days at the moment so time to catch up on inside jobs is definitely the order of the day.😕
Good for the garden though suppose😊
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Still no significant rain but the cooler evenings and nights are encouraging some plants to burst into flower.
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....and a few more.
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Some lovely photos there John, thank you for posting them as winter fast approaches and the majority of my flowering plants start to succumb to shorter days and lower temperatures.
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Not a morning walk today but this afternoon we decided to take a break from the garden and go see what effect a couple of days of heavy rain showers may have had on the local countryside. We headed up onto the cliffs above Kourion, parked near the Ancient Stadium and walked to the Temple of Apollo Ylates. The first photo looks out over the bay towards the peninsular of Akrotiri.
The others are of some of the plants we found in flower.
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This morning we decided to check out the areas around the Akrotiri Salt Lake and the Akrotiri Marshes. It was cool and pleasant walking but not a lot was out. Bellis sylvestris were everywhere with the occasional Anemone coronaria dotted around.
The Lake had a reasonable amount of water that was already well populated by flamingos. The white line towards the top of the picture is a host of flamingos.
The last shot is the view from the South Bird Hide in the marshes looking towards the cliffs on the opposite side of the nearby bay. We could hear birds in the rushes but none prepared to show themselves.
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The morning walks have been curtailed recently for a variety of reasons, pressing commitments, RAIN - yes!
Today I took the opportunity to get a few photos of some of the plants that are taking advantage of the RAIN that has been falling lately to come into flower.
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I like the third one down but the rose takes the prize
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Hi Hilary, the third one used to be called Senecio confusus but now goes by the tongue-twisting Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides. ???
Did you mean the Damask Rose at 10 or the Musk Rose (Rosa moschata) at 6?
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Damask rose at 10
I am still trying to pronounce the name of the other plant!
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Third straight day of rain and I tried to take advantage of a break to photograph some rather bedraggled plants. Didn't get very far before being driven back inside by more falling 'stair rods'. Our Montanoa grandiflora flowers seem to have survived surprisingly well.
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Winter has got a real grip and the rainy days are still with us. This morning, however, we took advantage of a break in the weather to drive up to the ancient stadium on the Kourion clifftop to get some much needed fresh air and exercise, and to see what might be around. Not a lot was out but I got a few shots before we retired back to the house and lunch. As I write this the rain has returned and the sky looks as though it has more to offer.
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No chance of a morning walk today. The overnight rain let up for a short time and the sun attempted to make an appearance, but the threat of more rain to come was still there. In fact it arrived shortly after I took this photo.
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Yesterday's rain continued overnight, awoke several times to hear it pounding down, and this morning the intensity increased even more for a while accompanied by thunder and lightning. Tried to get a photo of the 'stair rods' coming down, not too successfully but there's a hint of them there.
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After a solid week of almost continual rain the sun has finally put in an appearance so I went out, camera in hand, to see what might be around. The aloes near the house were still bravely displaying their Christmas candles, or should that be New Year's fireworks?
The Montanoa grandiflora flowers remained intact.
The Eremophila may be a desert lover but the rain doesn't seem to have fazed it.
The Philadelphus probably prefers the cooler, wetter temperatures than the scorching heat of summer.
The Thunbergia alata grows under a massive fig tree so is probably protected from the worst of the downpours.
The berries on the Nandina look quite festive.
We are eagerly anticipating enjoying the avocados as they should be ripening soon.
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Always amazes me how resilient most flowers are to heavy and persistent rain - roses being the obvious exception often. Those avocados look wonderful John, enjoy 😊
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This morning dawned bright and sunny so we decided to venture out in an effort to compensate for last night's excesses. We drove out to the village of Paramali to check on our friends' house as they were away all through the rainy days and had had damp damage the previous winter. All was well so we parked the car on the edge of the village and set off to see what we could find.
The first thing we found was a distressing sight, right outside the boundary fence of one of the houses. Whether by accident or design several agaves were growing. They were very mature and producing offspring in abundance, It won't be too long before they become a veritable forest, spreading into the surrounding countryside and choking out the anemones growing there.
A few native plants were out, not many, but we did see our first asphodel of the season.
The ancient olive tree was fighting hard to survive but an unknown species had obviously lost its particular battle.
We did come across a small church out in the middle of nowhere, one we had not seen before. This is not unusual as there must be hundreds, if not thousands, dotted around the island. This one did not look especially old, certainly not of ancient vintage. What was interesting about it was the nearby water point with mosaic. The wording below roughly translates as: 'wash your mistakes, not just your face'. The really fascinating thing though is that it is a Greek palindrome. At least it should be but the carver has made a slight spelling mistake. Can you spot it?
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After a day of respite yesterday the rain returned overnight. A quick scouting of the super-saturated garden around lunchtime found some varieties of fungi that I don't recall having seen here before. Also a couple of our cats who are obviously not impressed by the situation but are stoically accepting it.
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For a change this morning arrived clear and bright so we took the opportunity to drive the short distance to the ruins of the ancient city of Kourion. The custodians there know us so well by now that we don't have to pay to gain access.
Looking down over part of the ruins towards the mountains the tops of the Troodos Range were white with snow.
In the opposite direction the view over the bay showed little activity on the beach.
Walking over the site to get at the areas frequented by wildflowers involved a certain amount of contact with the 'barbed wire' tangles of Sarcopoterium spinosum.
The variety of plants was a little disappointing with a few Romulea tempskyana in evidence, and a single asphodel.
Bellis sylvestris were fairly well represented, but the major players were the Cyclamen persicum.
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Lovely, John! Does Cyclamen persicum usually flower that early there? Or is this a reaction to your heavy rains?
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The ones in our garden have not yet begun to flower, Alisdair, although the leaves have been out for a while. Yiannis Christofides in his book, Illustrated Flora of Cyprus, has them down as flowering from Jan - Apr. We usually pay a visit to the Kourion site this month to see them, but I must admit that this year we are a little earlier than normal and they are well in evidence already. Why this should be I don't know.
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After yet more days of torrential rain, thunderstorms and high winds today is showing signs of brightening a little. Our Montanoa flowers have survived the onslaught surprisingly well. The same cannot be said of the flower spike that was forming on one of our Aloe ferox as it appears to be rotting from the tip down.
We are told that the Germasogia dam, the second largest on the island, overflowed on Sunday. I should be passing by that way later today so I'll have to remember to take my camera along and see if I can get a photo or two.
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We took advantage of a break in the weather to drive down to the Salt Lake at Akrotiri. We found anemones in abundance but little else. I did spot one solitary rocket in flower, much earlier than usual. This weather seems to have turned a lot of things on their head. The water pouring across the road is heading for the salt lake that is on the right of the picture. My camera is not good enough to capture the thousands of flamingo that are way over the other side of the lake.
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I didn't get to take any photos of the dam at Germasogia overflowing, but this morning being fine and clear we drove to the island's largest dam the Kouris to see what the situation was there. We were amazed to see just how much water was pouring down the slipway and recreating a river that hadn't been in flow for years. We then drove to the far end of the reservoir, stopping on the way to grab a quick shot of the snow on the Troodos Range.
When the dam was constructed in the 1980s the village of Alassa was relocated from the valley floor to higher ground. The village church was on fairly high ground at the edge of the village but still suffered some flooding from time to time. The last time the dam overflowed I got a photo of the top of the dome with the cross, all that was left above water. Much of the church has collapsed over the intervening years but the tower with the cross atop has survived so far and today I got a similar shot. A small, largely symbolic, church has been built above the high water level and overlooking the old one.
On our way home we stopped in the next village to ours, Erimi, to watch the river passing beneath the road bridge there, a sight we have not seen for many years, certainly not since the pre-Dam years of the 1960s and 70s. In my first winter in Cyprus, 1967, the next bridge along, Queen's Bridge on the M1 in the Sovereign Base Area, was washed away by a flash flood. The Royal Engineers had to construct a Bailey Bridge to carry the traffic until the river subsided enough in the spring/summer for a replacement to be built.
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Fascinating!
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It wasn't until later that an interesting fact struck me. The dam was completed in 1988, since when it has overflowed 3 times, in 2004, 2012 and 2020, intervals of 16, 8 and 8 years. Maybe the first period took twice as long because it had to fill up from scratch. :D
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Another bright, sunny day and we were surprised to find this Iris unguicularis fully open with a second one on the verge.
Across the top of our property we have an irrigation line that carries untreated water direct from the dam via a valve and meter in the top corner of the field. From this we have smaller lines to feed the fruit trees, with taps to control which are on and which off. I numbered these for ease of reference and my wife decided they would be more prominent if she painted them purple!
This morning I spotted a small fungus growing next to one of them, it was purple. ??? The question is; is this its normal colour or is it responding in some way to the purple stone?
Of course I couldn't have taken any of these photos without the help of one of my assistants. Needless to say its our one and only female as the 4 males are all fast asleep in various locations around the place.
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A cold, damp, overcast day today but I had to collect my wife from our daughter's house where she had spent the night. As this entailed driving across the Germasogia Dam I took the opportunity to get some photos of it. I have mentioned this dam previously and on those occasions I grossly overestimated its cubic capacity and declared it to be the second largest on the island. In actual fact it rates in ninth place.
The slipway was in full flow.
Looking down on the dam and 2 ice-cream sellers rather optimistically awaitng customers despite the less than summery weather.
Looking across at the car park and recreation area. A few people were setting up barbecues, at least that would be a source of warmth.
The reservoir is used for a variety of water related activities.
Canoeing.
Rowing.
Dragon boat training?
Fishing.
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Before leaving for home we took a short walk around part of the reservoir looking for flowers. We found a few.
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The day was overcast and cold but we needed some fresh air so headed up to one of our favourite local spots, the Ancient Stadium on the cliffs at Kourion.
We found a few flowers braving the weather, including our first mandrake of the season. It was also an opportunity for my assistant to try out her new camera.
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What is flowere number 3 John?
Hope your assistant's efforts were pleasing.....
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It's Fagonia cretica, Carole, a rambling perennial that scrambles through bushes as well as along the ground. It grows at low altitudes, especially close to the sea and clifftops. It's native to the North African coast from Morocco to Egypt, the Alicante area of Spain and the Mediterranean islands of Crete, Malta, Cyprus and the Balearics.
She takes some good photos. I'll have to get my technical adviser (her 13 year old brother) to see if he can download some of them from her camera to my computer for possible posting on the Forum. ;)
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Thanks for the information John - very interesting plant I had never seen or heard of - pretty colour.
You are so lucky having technical help so at hand - my grandchildren are wizards too but.....in the UK.......the generation gap in that area gets ever wider with each year and I have rather given up hope of ever mastering more than the very basics. :)
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The weather has become dry but cold and we can venture out again without needing wellies. This morning I concentrated on the various salvias that have flowered for most of the year as I have tended to neglect them.
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Salvias are really most rewarding plants in the Mediterranean garden I think, giving form and colour throughout the year in their many varieties. My Costa Rican Blue is still opening new flowers on its lower branches having been spectacular in early autumn having reached a height of 5ft after being planted in May as a small cutting from David🙏. Shall be interested to see what happens next year.......
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Precious few seem able to survive the long hot summers of low-level southern Greece without any water at all, though.... I'm full of admiration for John's wonderful display.
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I can't really take the credit, Alisdair, as they are all Thea's babies, many of them acquired from David in Rome, as Carole says. We have a lot of mature trees that provide areas of shade, from dappled to quite heavy, and some benefit from that. Most do need, as you point out, varying amounts of supplementary water during the hottest months.
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I finally got chance today to do some much needed tidying up in the garden. My flower stuation is much poorer than Charithea and John's. Here is what I managed to find. Apart from the Tagetes and Buddleja there were only one or two flowers on any individual plant. The definition of "flower" had to be stretched a little to allow myself to include Salvia leucantha.
Salvia discolor, Buddleja madagarensis, Salvia leucantha 'Midnight', Lantana[/i] sp,, Tagetes lemmonii, Vinca minor 'Atropurpurea', Salvia guaranatica 'Costa-Rican Blue' and Salvia 'Phyllis' Fancy'. I have added a photo of Roldana petasitis in bud as a promise of things to come. Unless we have another "Beast from the East", of course.
I noticed as I attached the photos that one of the flowers on S. 'Phyllis' Fancy seems to be mauve, not white. I must check tomorrow when it is lightt.
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Another fine, sunny but chilly day so was able to take the camera out in the garden this morning.
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It proved to be quite a profitable outing, here are a few more.
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With today's temperature down into single figures and a wind-chill factor making things even more unpleasant I've taken a photo from one of our kitchen windows rather than venture outside. It shows a somewhat eclectic mix of plants, and continents, with Echium candicans from the Canary Islands beginning to show flower spikes ready to open, Euphorbia trigona from South Africa standing tall and Eremophila glabra from Australia in the background.
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Beautiful photograph John. Although we all welcome flowers, careful planting with regard to form and foliage can make the garden interesting at all times.👍
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Today turned out to be sunny and relatively warm so we decided to check out the mandrakes up on the cliffs at Kourion. They were open, as were a few other specimens.
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Another sunny morning so we set off to check out an area on the edge of the Akrotiri Salt Lake. We found these beautiful Ranunculus asiaticus and a single orchid that I thought of as Ophrys syriaca but I now see that according to Yiannis Christofides book, 'Illustrated Flora of Cyprus' I have to start calling Anacamptis syriaca. Then my camera decided to go on strike, refusing to work, and I had to wait until I got home to fix it.
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Yesterday was a day of rain, varying between light drizzle and torrential downpours all day. This morning dawned bright and clear so I took a few photos of flowers that I haven't featured so far this year.
Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum'.
Euphorbia milii.
Phlomis lunariifolia.
Brugmansia suaveolens.
Hibiscus platanifolius.
Calliandra californica.
Medicago arborea.
Viburnum tinus.
Chasmanthe aethiopica.
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Another sunny day, perfect for getting out and about for some fresh air after the days of heavy rain we've had lately. Unfortunately family commitments prevented us taking a morning walk but, as we need to get some excercise ready for the Jordan trip, we decided on an afternoon one. Our destination was the clifftop area above the mythical birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite. The large rock in the photo is known in English as 'Aphrodite's Rock' in recognition of this event. However to the locals it's 'Petra tou Romiou', the stone of the Greek (that is Byzantine or Eastern Roman). This is in reference to the legendary giant, Digenes Akritas, who is said to have warded off an attack by Saracen pirates by hurling the rocks into the sea, the resulting tidal wave swamping and destroying the invaders ships.
It's personal choice as to which version you believe. ;)
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A beautiful spot John as I remember well from our one visit to your lovely Island many years ago - think I prefer the romantic version....we took a long peaceful walk in that area
soaking up the peaceful beauty.
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Every year cyclamen pop up in all sorts of places that we didn't put them. The work of ants perhaps?
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Hi John,
I noticed a photo of Chasmanthe a little earlier in this thread. Like my posting a few days ago about Nerines, this is a plant (Chasmanthe floribunda) I have little success with. Even leaving aside the year -7°C burnt the plant to the ground and the other time a builder let his ladder crash down on the plants snapping most of them at soil level, I have only ever had one flower on one plant in over 10 years :-( Any suggestions as to how to get it to flower? Mine are in a very large pot and I have replaced the soil a couple of times. Two keeled over in the strong winds we had here a couple of days ago.
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David, the plants we have are Chasmanthe aethiopica which I believe is basically a smaller version of C. floribunda. Our problem with them is to keep their numbers down, they reproduce like crazy, I give away loads of them every year. They seem to do best in sunny, or semi-shaded, areas that get little or no water in summer. We don't have frosts so that isn't a problem. I can only suggest trying giving them a dose of fertiliser once they start into growth. Sorry I can't be of more help. This photo was taken today.
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Finally things are beginning to happen in my garden, here are Narcissus 'Ice Follies and 'Tete a Tete' respectively. Vinca minor 'Illumination' is beginning to put on a show too.
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David, re the Chasmanthe we have your address so in the summer when the plants have died down and the corms dried out we could send you a batch to try out.
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Thanks for the offer of Chasmanthe John. I would like to try a different species. To rub salt in the wound, I walked past a clump of Chasmanthe about a kilometer from my house 2 evenings ago. In full flower, and abandoned in an area cultivated by the local Guerrilla Gardeners. So it is not the climate which is the problem. It is obviously me that they don't like. After a few very windy days, mine are flat on the ground yet again this year. When they have died back I will plant them in among some other plants for them to grow through and get support.
Cheers
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Very frustrating David !
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Another sunny day and I thought maybe the wildflowers should get a go.
Allium neopolitanum, Wild garlic
Bellevalia trifoliata
Achillea cretica, I think.
Geranium tuberosum, I think.
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It might seem from the last 2 or 3 postings from me, Chasmanthe and Nerine among them, that I am unable to grow anything. Not far wrong, but here is one of my successes. Comes up every year. I wrote about this earlier on a different thread, asking for help with identification. http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=2303.msg15848#msg15848
I wrote:
"Having done a little research on the internet they might be F(reesia) fucata. Or at least have that in the mix somewhere if they are a hybrid. The identifying feature apparently is a three-pointed bract at the base of the flower, I may have to wait until next year to find out if that is the case."
I promptly forgot to check if it has a 3-pointed bract but, now that it is flower again, and tomorrow being a less hectic day, that is on my list of things to do.
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I guess maybe the morning walks should be reinstated as the weather appears to be stabilising somewhat at last and we have no alternative at the moment but to stay at home and take our excercise within the garden. Our Acanthus arboreus that we got from Sally at Sparoza some years ago is coming back into flower.
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We were greeted this morning by a display of the first flowers to be produced by one of our many epiphylums. At least we have been calling it an epiphylum but I suspect we may have to rename it as Disocactus ackermannii.
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Re my posting in this thread, 4th March "Freesia fucata, or not". I had a look and there were only 2 points not 3 so back to the drawing board.
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Our external morning walks have been somewhat curtailed over the last few months due to the lockdown so this morning we decided that with the relaxation of regulations we'd try for a drive up into the Troodos, staying clear of the more popular areas. We had obviously missed most of the spring flowers and with the temperature in the 30+C range it was not going to be too comfortable walking too far. We did find a few things worth seeing and the exercise probably did us good.
Ptilostemon chamaepeuce var. cyprius.
Lonicera etrusca.
Cistus creticus.
Teucrium kotschyanum.
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Not a walk today but a drive around 3 different nurseries. The first is one that we haven't visited for a while so it was good to have a quick chat with the owner again. He was saying that they have ordered plants but as most come in from abroad the lockdown restrictions have prevented them from arriving on island. So now that things are beginning to open up once more here he has very little stock to offer, but we picked up a few items.
The second visit was to an old friend and a regular stopping place for us, where we snagged another couple of plants.
The third stop was to a nursery that we seldom visit, not because of the quality of their plants but due to the fact that they seem to have a cavalier attitude to the naming of their wares. Since our last visit they have improved the labeling of their plants but have simplified the binomial system by turning it into a mononomial one. All plants are merely identified by their genus, no specific names in sight. For instance we asked about a variety of Teucrium and were told that it was a teucrium. The request for what variety was answered with a shrug of the shoulders. The same answer was given by 3 different members of the staff. What was quite obviously an Eremophila nivea was labelled solely as Eremophillum. Maybe I'm becoming grumpy in my old age but I find it unacceptable that people who are selling an item cannot be bothered to find out its name.
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With you all the way on this one John - and also most annoying to be given wrong information regarding plant names from owners who think they are being helpful but just dish out commercial names given to new introductions with no knowledge of their provenance...... it seems rather big headed to try to explain a bit and.... they don't really want to know I find.🙁
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As I have said before, couldn't agree more John. The other thing is that many of the plants are shipped/flown in rather than locally raised. Consequently, the plants which we know to need good drainage are in water-logged (peat-based?) compost and have not been hardened off in any way. All that work is left to us. A problem compounded by the use of hormones as talked about by Umbrian recently. Umbrian is right when she says "they really don't want to know". Quick sale and highest turnover is what many of the big chain nurseries want. You often see the difference when you go to a family-run business. No better place to make a direct comparison than some of the big plant shows.
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Another morning drive up to the Troodos Botanical Garden to see how things are getting on. We do this reasonably early in the morning so that as we are on our way back down we have a clear run. Every other car in Cyprus is on the opposite side of the road in a long nose to tail line heading up, or so it seems.
Most of the plants in the photos below are labelled, the first couple are lavender and the alliums are Allium shaerocephalon.
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Each morning I have been watching one of our Blood lilies slowly reappear. This is Haemanthus coccineus, we also have a white variety, H. albiflos. Red blood is standard and we even say that some people have Blue blood, but White blood?
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Not a morning walk but a late afternoon one, having just returned after carrying out grandparent duties, ie collecting grandson from school, taking him to his dental appointment and returning him home. While drinking a reviving cup of tea I spotted the attached flower. It came as a complete surprise as we had not seen it forming. We got the plant a few months ago from a fellow MGS member who lives in Nicosia, and then forgot about it. I believe it is a Stapelia gigantea.
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Our Dragon fruit has been promising flowers for a few days and this morning one opened. They are the variety with red flesh which I believe are Hylocereus costaricensis.
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My garden is so small that not even 100 laps of it could seriously be considered a walk. But I dd manage to venture out this morning just to check up on seeds I sowed last weekend. I didn't expect to find anything growing. I was really making sure that they hadn't got waterlogged with all the rain we have been having recently - even though the pots I use have lids on them, rain can get in when it is heavy.
In addition to Linum usitatissimum, L grandiflorum and Crepis rubra, I also found that Salvia eigii and S taraxacifolia had germinated too. Many thanks to Charithea and Umbrian who generously gave me seeds of each salvia respectively. After a few losses this summer, if all goes well with the seedlings, I will have two new additions to juggle with in my little garden :-)
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Was greeted this morning by a rather wet outlook, we had been hearing the thunder and the first real rains of the season during the night. Below we have our Solanum seaforthianum, Farfugium japonicum 'Aureomarginatum' and Correa backhouseana that are out in the morning sunlight.
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Lovely Solanum John.....we too are experiencing a change in the weather with night temperatures getting decidedly low.....have made preparations to move vulnerable things into their winter quarters which I think I shall have to attend to this weekend.
Quite a strange autumn here with Helleborus Niger in full flower alongside Salvias and other summer subjects.
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Not a morning walk but an afternoon one. We decided we needed to get away from the house for a while, preferably to somewhere we wouldn't come into contact with others. So we drove up to the cliffs above ancient Kourion and parked by the ruins of the Stadium. The area behind it can usually be counted on to provide something. What we did not expect to find was that it had been devastated by fire. A little further off we did find scatterings of Narcissus obsoletus, a couple of Colchicum pusillum and a patch of what I believe are Scilla autumnalis.
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An opportunity for you to observe the rejuvenation of the area.
In a separate thread?
Every season?
Once a year?
Having said that I can't find the get up and go to observe a tree a couple of streets away
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No morning walk today as for the second one running we have heavy rain and thunder storms. Can't complain because it's the first real rain of the season and we need the water.
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After a couple of days of rain this morning dawned bright and clear. Not a great many plants in flower at this time but those that are are very welcome.
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A little different this morning. Following a recent spell of wet weather a variety of fungi have begun to appear. The ones in the first photo are regulars, they grow from the base of some of our olive trees that we have cut down. The other two are new ones, possibly from the manure that I dug into some areas before the rains came.
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Just noticed, in the last but one posting, the pebble with the name of the plant painted on it, Nice idea :-)
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During the night we were woken by the sound of heavy rain accompanied by a thunderstorm that knocked out the power supply for a couple of hours. So walking out this morning was a bit on the damp side, but I did manage to get a shot of this brave hibiscus flower before my camera battery died.
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Hi John,
Just going back to the painting of the names on pebbles (above)... I have had for a while some terracotta tiles that I am planning to write poems/sayings and the like, on. I bought some tubes of weather proof paint with a very fine nozzle that you snip off the end of and use like a pen. I fear, however, that it will take a great amount of skill to get both even hand-pressure squeezing the tube and even speed in writing out the words to ensure neat, legible writing.
The tile then needs to be baked in the oven for a while at, I think, 120°C.
Did you use a brush to write your pebble labels? What kind of paint did you use? This project has come back to mind as I found 8 slate roof tiles in a second hand shop and snapped them up immediately. Lock down in Rome to continue so no time like the COVID present to buckle down.
One of the poems I would like to have in my garden is:
Wagtail and Baby
A baby watched a ford, whereto
A wagtail came for drinking;
A blaring bull went wading through,
The wagtail showed no shrinking.
A stallion splashed his way across,
The birdie nearly sinking;
He gave his plumes a twitch and toss,
And held his own unblinking.
Next saw the baby round the spot
A mongrel slowly slinking;
The wagtail gazed, but faltered not
In dip and sip and prinking.
A perfect gentleman then neared;
The wagtail, in a winking,
With terror rose and disappeared;
The baby fell a-thinking.
and another...
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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David, I can take no credit for the pebble labels, that's all down to my other half, she's the artistic one. I've shown her your post and she will reply later.
The Robert Frost is one of her favourite poems. We tried to guess the author of the first one but didn't come up with Thomas Hardy.
On a different subject the link you sent to The Hanbury Gardens has an amazing list of the plants grown there. We were lucky enough to visit there when the MGS AGM was held in Menton in 2014.
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David, I was instructed to go out and get a better photograph of the pebble, and also some mosaic examples that she did as an experiment. Obviously these are quite large so are not suitable for general use.
Please excuse the ubiquitous oxalis and the somewhat dirty, wet look of the stones as I had to dash out between downpours to take the shots.
Three of our cats decided to keep me company but were not too impressed by the conditions.
The last photo is of a book Thea bought on a trip to Florence some years ago.
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Following a weekend of heavy rains and thunderstorms today dawned brighter, sunny but with a chill in the wind. Some of our plants were also attempting to brighten things up.
One surprise was to find that our Montanoa grandiflora was beginning to flower.
This plant I have been calling an aloe for years only to discover that it is now to be known as Aloiampelos ciliaris.
The Podranea ricasoliana is producing larger flowers than we have seen on it before.
The Odontomena strictum is attempting to join the party.
Tecoma capensis can usually be relied on to bring colour to the hedge, along with the hibiscus, and the Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides.
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This morning as it looked promising for a bright, though chilly day, we ventured up onto the cliffs above Ancient Kourion. We thought we'd take a look at the area behind the Stadium that I had photographed in November following a fire. Pleased to see that it was beginning to show signs of rejuvenating, with Romulea and Bellis having survived underground. We were just about to set off to check out an area where mandrakes grow when the sky became dark and the rain began to return so we were forced to make a hasty retreat to the car.
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This morning was brighter, with a very chill breeze blowing, but no sign of impending rain so we decided to carry on from where we left off yesterday.
In fact we began at the ruins of the Temple of Apollo Hylates (Apollo of the Woodland). From there we walked to what is left of the Ancient Stadium, where the area is still showing signs of last year's fire in places.
A further 200 m, on in an area known as At Maydan, are the ruins of a Basilica built in the 5th/6th C AD.
By now it was approaching lunchtime and we felt in need of a warming beverage and so turned back to the car, once more not having made it as far as the mandrakes.
The last 3 photos are of looking down over the beach at Kourion, across the sweep of the bay towards the western edge of the Akrotiri Peninsular and in the direction of the Ancient city of Kourion.
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Oops! the last 2 photos got transposed somehow but I'm sure you have worked that out.
Anyway, not too much in flower as yet. As well as the Romulea and Bellis we saw yesterday, we found Asphodels, Anemones, Clematis cirrhosa, Fagaria cretica and a small, not yet fully open Himantoglossum robertianum.
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Cold, rather dull morning today, but some of our plants are bravely attempting to put on a show. Buddleja madagascariensis is just beginning to colour up. Much to our surprise the Montanoa grandiflora has burst into flower overnight. David, you posted on a different thread that you were having problems with your Pseudogynoxys. Ours has been flowering intermittently all winter. Same with Thunbergia grandiflora and T. alata. On dull days the Euryops pectinatus provides a welcome bright splash. The Correa backhouseana comes from Australia so maybe it gets confused about the seasons! Cestrum elegans and C. roseum may not have the scent associated with their night-flowering cousin but they are much more colourful.
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Heavy rainstorm with high winds last night. Our Bauhinia forficata and Pistacia lentiscus seem to have borne the brunt of it.
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Today's morning walk saw us back up in the area around the Ancient Stadium above Kourion.
Anemone coronaria
Phagnalon rupestre
Fagonia cretica
Asphodelus ramosus
What I believe to be Ophrys flavomarginata but I'm prepared to be corrected.
Cistus creticus
One of the harbingers of spring on Cyprus hillsides Calycotome villosa
Mandragora officinarum
Lithodora hispidula
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Beautiful orchid John - how lovely to find it.
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Salvia eigii taken this morning.
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I haven't posted any photos taken on my morning strolls around the garden lately but today for some reason I took my camera with me, even though it was cold and wet. As I walked around I passed by several plants that we had acquired over the years from Sally at Sparoza, either as gifts or purchased from the nursery. Like the one in the photo, Gladiolus tristis which was opening its first flowers so I took the shot. I may be getting sentimental in my old age but when I transferred it to my computer I couldn't help feeling that it was bowing its head and shedding a tear in her memory. I guess there's no fool like an old fool!
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Beautiful plant and beautiful post John❤️
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Very changeable weather today. Was woken in the night by heavy rain. Went out this morning to have a look around but had to abandon and get back under cover to escape a sudden hailstorm. However, I did manage to get a photo of the first flower of the year on our Starfish lily. This member of the iris family from South Africa may not be to everyone's taste but I love it, partly because the bulbs came from our good friend Fleur in Greece. Proper name Ferraria crispa I usually refer to it as 'Fleur's Ferrari'.
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I've posted these on this thread as we spotted them as we walked around before starting work yesterday.
The first is a Cyprus endemic that we've nurtured for a couple of years and has eventually flowered. It's a Scutellaria cypria but there are 2 variants, S. cypria var cypria and S. cypria var elatior. I'm not sure which this is but I lean towards the latter.
The other is an orchid that has appeared completely out of the blue. In all the years we have lived here we have never seen one of these growing. We think, due to the scent of the flowers, that it is Anacamptis fragrans.
Gardens can be a constant source of amazement.
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Beautiful Orchid John and if it is scented even better😊In our former garden we would occasionally be surprised by the appearance of various Orchids - the land around the house had been farmed previously and it was only towards the end of our tenure that some of these beautiful flowers began to make a comeback and they were always so welcome.
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With restrictions being eased a little, no longer necessary to ask permission to leave the house, we decided to take a stroll in the Akrotiri marshes. Took photos of a couple of plants and one or two of migrating birds that have not yet gone on their way. My camera is not really built for long distance work.
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Not a morning walk today but something more adventurous, a long morning drive. Restrictions having been eased, permission to leave the house no longer required, we decided to set off to see where we ended up. This turned out to be the village of Lympia in the Nicosia District.
We came across this Staircase of Love that led up to a view over the surrounding countryside. Random messages of love in a variety of languages had been written on the adjacent building. However, the one to the left of the hearts and crosses highlighted the danger of attempting to write a message in one language using the alphabet of a different language. Pronunciation is everything!
As we strolled around the village we stumbled upon a house with the most fantastic collection of cactus and succulents. The photographs only show a fraction. How could anyone resist calling to ask if the owner minded us looking and taking photos. In the age-old tradition of dedicated gardeners they were only too pleased to show us around, and we eventually left with a bag full of cuttings and small plants. What more can you say?
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Again not a morning walk but a morning drive. This time to the village of Galata, situated 60 km west of Nicosia at height of 620 m asl. Our long-time friend and fellow MGS member Yiannos Orphanos is a garden designer who has been working on a client's garden here for several years. We have been unable to visit to see the progress for over 2 years due to the pandemic. Yiannos was not there today but he said his workers would allow us in as they knew us.
This is a very large, very complex project situated on the side of a steep hill. It has natural springs that are directed into a large reservoir, the water being utilised to irrigate the property. Beehives in abundance are situated around the garden and their produce, along with a variety of fruits grown are processed in 2 specially constructed buildings towards the top of the property.
Photos 1 & 2 are of one of the natural springs.
3 & 4 are of the reservoir.
5 is a line of beehives along an access road.
6 & 7 are the 2 processing buildings.
8 is a bee motif in the yard outside these buildings.
9 is an imaginative lamp in that yard.
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I didn't take many photos of the plants in the garden this time, but I did get a couple that I found unusual. The first is a Hypericum called 'Hidcote' that I had not come across before. The second is a plant that I can't recall seeing in Cyprus anywhere else, it's a Spirea species or possible hybrid unknown.
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What an interesting place - and wonderful to see natural springs harnessed in such a sympathetically productive way.
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Usually when I take my morning walk I can count on the company of a faithful companion. This morning, however, she was 'crashed out' under a tree, I dread to think what she had been up to overnight to be so tired today!
We have enjoyed some of the early fruits already this year but here are ones that we are looking forward to sampling in the weeks to come.
Persimmon/Kaki
One of the few apples to grow successfully at this low altitude, a variety called 'Anna".
Physalis.
Medlar
Fig
Guava
Mango
Pomegranate
Avocado
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Your last post re fruit made me very sad John because this year I shall have nothing to look forward to. A severe late frost took all the young leaves on both my Kaki and Pomegranate and only now are they slowly re-leafing. The spring garden looked very strange without the spreading branches of the Kaki providing its usual backdrop of fresh greenness. I feared for the young Pomegranate that last year had had its first good crop. Keeping a worried eye on it I was surprised but relieved to see leaves shooting from the still slender trunk but wondered if some of the branches might be dead. Slowly however it is re-leaving along most of its branches although the tips of many seem dead.
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Haven't posted on here for a while but the temperature and humidity is climbing to the point where attempting to do any physical work is uncomfortable so this morning I took the camera out instead.
We have:
Justicia carnea ssp fistulosa
Hibiscus syriacus
Carissa macrocarpa
Tabernaemontana divaricata
Jaborosa integrifolia
Buddleja davidii