Morning walk

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David Dickinson

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #450 on: October 11, 2020, 06:52:30 PM »
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 :-)
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #451 on: November 20, 2020, 08:45:02 AM »
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.
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 #452 on: November 21, 2020, 09:17:48 AM »
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.
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 #453 on: November 22, 2020, 08:08:04 PM »
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.
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 #454 on: November 23, 2020, 07:22:51 AM »
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
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 #455 on: December 01, 2020, 07:10:55 AM »
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.
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 #456 on: December 18, 2020, 12:38:44 PM »
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.
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 #457 on: December 21, 2020, 08:09:00 AM »
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.
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)

David Dickinson

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #458 on: December 21, 2020, 11:49:31 AM »
Just noticed, in the last but one posting, the pebble with the name of the plant painted on it, Nice idea :-)
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #459 on: January 16, 2021, 07:53:15 AM »
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.
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)

David Dickinson

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #460 on: January 16, 2021, 11:35:58 PM »
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.
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

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John J

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Re: Morning walk
« Reply #461 on: January 17, 2021, 05:50:10 AM »
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.
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 #462 on: January 17, 2021, 08:20:55 AM »
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.
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 #463 on: January 18, 2021, 09:17:48 AM »
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.
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 #464 on: January 19, 2021, 04:42:41 PM »
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.
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)