[Joanna Savage]

Yellow. I missed Black Eyed Suzy, a Thunbergia.

[Joanna Savage]

For the whites, lantana, pelargonium, rose , viburnum tinus and an arum or calla.

[John J]

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".

[John J]

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.

[David Dickinson]

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.

[David Dickinson]

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

[John J]

Today I went for the, for want of a better word, fiery colours.

[Umbrian]

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.

[Umbrian]

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.

[Umbrian]

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.

[John J]

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.

[Umbrian]

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.

[John J]

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.

[Joanna Savage]

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?

[John J]

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.