[John J]

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.

[John J]

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.

[John J]

A few more photos that were taken today.

[John J]

Arrived back last night after 2 weeks away and was greeted by a display of roses this morning.

[Alisdair]

Beautiful, John - I can almost smell them!

[John J]

On opening the blinds this morning was greeted by a mass of flowers on one of our Epiphyllums.

[John J]

An Ornithogalum arabicum has opened in time for us to see it before we leave to join the MGS trip to Sardinia.

[John J]

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.

[Hilary]

shockimg

[Fleur Pavlidis]

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!

[Umbrian]

So disappointing John - why do people do such pointless things?  I can imagine how frustrated you must feel.

[Umbrian]

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.

[John J]

This year's Hollyhocks and a Delphinium staphisagria.

[John J]

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. 

[Alisdair]

Wow, that's quite an undertaking, John!