[Hilary]

Delphinium ‘Clifford Sky’
The 68 p stamp in the Royal Mail series

THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
1804- 2004 A BICENTENARY CELEBRATION

There are some details about this plant here on the RHS website

I https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/65924/i-Delphinium-i-Clifford-Sky/Details

Delphiniums are mentioned as growing in the gardens of the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos in Cordoba  in
 AN ANDALUCIAN ADVENTURE: PART2. CORDOBA by Karen Leathers.
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 80, April 2015.

For photographs, see the MGS website

[Hilary]

Lapidarea margaretae,The Karoo Rose

The eleventh stamp in the series  SUCCULENTS issued by South Africa in 1988

There are some good photos of this plant here
http://worldofsucculents.com/lapidaria-margaretae-karoo-rose/

For those of you interested in articles about gardens in South Africa go to
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN issue number 16, Spring 1999
And read
TSITSIKAMMA GARDENING by Anda Wayland

[Hilary]

Acacia pycnantha, Golden Wattle

A stamp issued by Australia in 1959 – 60 in a series named FLOWERS
 For some reason this stamp was printed on yellow paper.

To read about Wattle look here
http://www.anbg.gov.au/emblems/aust.emblem.html

Although Wattle is the national tree of Australia it is mentioned very seldom in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN.
Is it so common that no one wants it in their gardens?

In issue number 88 in PLANTING WITH STYLE AND CONVICTION:
USING PLANTS THAT CAN SURVIVE UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER PATTERNS Julia Catton writes

“while mostly relying on local  Australian plants  such as wattle , coastal bottlebrush and Kangaroo paw, I also included some mediterranean plants”

Taking a copy of THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN, number 11 Winter 1997/98, to read on the beach I came across this artice by Caroline Davies
 A SMALL GARDEN IN MELBOURNE where she writes

“Other trees, such as wattle and weeping lillypilly belonging to the adjoining townhouses, defined our side boundary.”

Looking through THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN for something else entirely I came across this article by Jeff Irons which you might find interesting
ACACIAS, in the very first issue. Summer 1995

[Hilary]

Actinotus helianthii, Flannel Flower

A stamp issued by Australia in 1959-60 in a series named FLOWERS
You can read about this plant here
http://www.anbg.gov.au/emblems/aust.emblem.html

Absolutely no mention of this plant in any of the copies of
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN but as the flower is from Australia and there are three articles in the latest issue number  89, July 2017
I am pointing you to
MY GARDENING EXPERIENCES by Anna Affleck
For photographs of this garden , see the MGS website, www.mediterraneangarden.org/journal-89.html.

Also in issue number 88
MY AUSTRALIAN GARDEN   by Sarah Loxton Guest
For photographs of this garden see the MGS website, www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/journal-88.html

[Hilary]

https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2002/actinotus-helianthi.html

Sorry, mistake
Here is the link to Actinotus helianthii

[Alisdair]

Hilary, I thought you might like this photo of a patch of Flannel Flowers which we saw at the wonderful Stokes Bay Bush Garden on Kangaroo Island during the post-AGM tour after the 2012 Adelaide MGS meeting. It should be a great plant for mediterranean gardens (seed is commercially available), but I haven't tried it myself.

[Hilary]

Nymphaea maculata

A stamp issued by the Belgian Congo in 1952-53

There is not much information about this plant on the www but there are a few photos here

http://eol.org/pages/5472673/overview

Going back to THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN issue number 8 Spring, 1997
There is an interesting article about garden ponds and aquatic plants, Nymphaea are mentioned there.

THE AQUATICS AND THEIR CULTIVATION IN MEDIERRANEAN CLIMATES
By Gianluca Corazza

[Hilary]

Ficus carica, Fig

A stamp in a series issued in 1962 by Lebanon

The photo is of figs given to us by a friend who has a fig tree in her garden. Apparently last year the tree did not produce such large fruit or so abundantly

The Fig tree, being a basic requirement of all Mediterranean garden,s is mentioned many times in
 THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN.
Today I have chosen number 81, July 2015.
GARDENING IN A SPANISH NATURE RESERVE
by Beate  M. Henz

For photographs of this garden, see the MGS website,
www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/journal.html.

[Hilary]

Strophanthus sarmentosus, Spider Tresses, Poison Arrow Plant

A stamp in a series to celebrate the
100th anniversary of the International Red Cross
 issued in 1963 by the Republique Du Congo

To read about this plant and its many uses go to
https://www.prota4u.org/database/protav8.asp?g=pe&p=Strophanthus+sarmentosus+DC.

Strophanthus is mentioned in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN as being very poisonous in issue number 34 October, 2003
NERIUM OLEANDER, OF THE PLANT FAMILY APOCYNACEAE
By Irmtraud  Gotsis

[Hilary]

Corynocarpus laevigatus
KARAKA or New Zealand Laurel

Another stamp from the series named FLOWERS issued by New Zealand in 1960-63
You can read about this tree and see some great photos on this site
http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/table-1/karaka.html

This plant is not mentioned in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN but  I have included it here as I have already posted some  4 stamps from the same series.
Now I have discovered that there are quite a few posts on this Forum from  New Zealand but I don’t think there is a single article  in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN, correct me if I am wrong.

[Hilary]

Dioscorea  elephantipes

One more stamp from South Africa in the  1988 series SUCCULENTS

If you want to read about this plant look here
http://pza.sanbi.org/dioscorea-elephantipes

Nothing to do with succulents but I came across Anda Wayland’s article
CONSERVATION OR CRIME ? about man made disasters and helping nature along in South Africa
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN  issue number 37 July 2004

[Hilary]

Eriobotrya japonica, Loquat, Μουσμουλιά

This stamp was issued in an Airmail series by Lebanon in 1962

There are several trees here in the neighbourhood all entirely neglected but produce fruit every year.
The photo was taken in a, non neglected, Corinth garden. 

Loquat trees were seen in Morocco in 2015
Read about the trip here
MGS TOUR OF MOROCCO, MARCH 2015:
A PERSONAL ACCOUNT
by Valerie Whittington
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 81, July 2015

[Hilary]

Eriobotrya japonica

Photograph

[Hilary]

Cedrus libani, Cedre Du Liban, Cedar of Lebanon, 1937

Lebanon seems to produce many stamp series featuring the Cedar tree; it looks slightly different in some series
This one was issued in 1937-1940 when the country as named
REPUBLIQUE LIBANAISE  and the tree featured has a  rounded crown.

I have also posted a photo of a huge tree in Nafplion. I decided that it was a Cedar tree, but is it? Don’t take my word for it.
Couldn’t they have a label on this tree? I mustn’t be the only person who wondered what it was.

The Cedar tree has given you the excuse to read
 MGS TOUR OF MOROCCO, MARCH 2015:
A PERSONAL ACCOUNT
By Valerie Whittingtion
She writes

“seeing the cedars snow-covered and walking among them was a highlight of the tour for me- they are such stately trees”

THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN, issue number 81, July 2015

[Hilary]

VELLOZIA
The accepted name being Xerophyta spekei Baker

Ruanda- Urundi issued a series of stamps named
 INDIGENOUS FLORA in 1953.
The same series was issued by the Belgian Congo in 1952

I couldn’t find much information about this plant but there is a little in this link


http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Xerophyta+spekei

I liked that part of the plant can be used as pan scrubs

Trying to find some very vague connection with this plant and the journal of THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN SOCIETY,
 THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN  I found, in issue number 23, January 2001, xerophytes mentioned
John Sandham writes in his article
 A MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE GARDEN FOR THE ADELAIDE BOTANIC GARDEN

“The local state flora is represented in the Mallee, and the endangered xerophytic taxa from the south west of Madagascar in the historic Palm House.”