Morning walk

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Hilary

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #390 on: December 19, 2019, 09:02:01 AM »
I like the third one down but the rose takes the prize
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #391 on: December 19, 2019, 11:26:24 AM »
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?
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

Hilary

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #392 on: December 19, 2019, 01:18:56 PM »
Damask rose at 10
I am still trying to pronounce the name of the other plant!
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #393 on: December 26, 2019, 07:30:14 AM »
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.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #394 on: December 28, 2019, 01:30:44 PM »
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.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #395 on: December 29, 2019, 10:04:28 AM »
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.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #396 on: December 30, 2019, 06:43:58 AM »
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.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #397 on: December 31, 2019, 07:59:37 AM »
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.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

Umbrian

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #398 on: December 31, 2019, 08:31:42 AM »
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 😊
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #399 on: January 01, 2020, 04:21:48 PM »
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?
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #400 on: January 02, 2020, 01:55:13 PM »
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.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #401 on: January 04, 2020, 02:13:14 PM »
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.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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Alisdair

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #402 on: January 05, 2020, 09:33:29 AM »
Lovely, John! Does Cyclamen persicum usually flower that early there? Or is this a reaction to your heavy rains?
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #403 on: January 05, 2020, 10:04:57 AM »
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.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #404 on: January 08, 2020, 08:31:13 AM »
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.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)