[Charithea]

Hilary, go for it and let us know how it goes. I have made 'limoncello ' and also 'myrtle ' liqueur. The limoncello recipe came from the MGS website and the myrtle from my Sardinian friend.  Both have been sampled  by visiting Italian friends and  have been approved. I was emboldened  to offer it to my Cypriot friends in the choir.

[Hilary]

Gymnocalycium mihanovichii F Rubra

A stamp issued by Hungary in 1971

There is some information about this type of cactus here
https://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Gymnocalycium
It is also in the Red Guide of endangered plants
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/152060/0

Cacti, in general, are mentioned in more than half the issues of
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN all I have to do is decide which one to recommend to you
Big decision made, issue number 26, October 2001
A VISIT TO MALLORCA, JUNE 2001
By Freda Cox

I lifted the photo of Charithea’s Gymnocalycium from this Forum.
This link should take you her post
http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=2323.0

[Hilary]

Malus domestica, Apple

A stamp issued by Spain in 1975

The photo of the apple blossom and the label were taken at the local plant nursery last year.

As you can imagine I had no trouble finding a reference to Apples in
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN. 
I chose ILLUSIONS OF SPACE FOR A SMALL GARDEN by Jan Smithen
in issue number 47, January 2007.

[Charithea]

Here is a photo of some of this year's apple crop.  They are  called Anna and they tolerate the dry hot conditions.   They have a' light flesh' and they don't last long so I use them to make apple cakes instead of apple pie since we don't have Bramleys.

[Hilary]

Καλή όρεξη,Bon appetit, Enjoy

[Hilary]

Mirabilis jalapa, Marvel of Peru, Four o’clock flower

A stamp issued by Hungary in 1969

I used to like this plant when I first became aware of it growing round the trees in the pavement. Now am not so sure I like its straggly look.
Here are five photos of the Marvel of Peru in different colours

I looked for a reference to this plant in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN index and found five issues from which to choose
I chose DE ODORATO by Duncan Graham in issue number 27, January 2002 .
I never knew this flower had a perfume I must go down into the street and see if one of the local ones is emitting a pleasant perfume

[John J]

I agree with you,Hilary. I sowed some seeds in the garden years ago as they were a bit of a novelty with their strange array of colours, often on the same plant. Then they became somewhat of a nuisance, with their straggly appearance and undisciplined behaviour, so we got rid of them. Or so we thought, they still pop up from time to time in the oddest places.

[Charithea]

Thank you Hilary.  I have baked my apple cakes and also photographed them but my computer is refusing to open emails from my Ipad. so can not  reduce them and post them.  The cakes taste very nice!

[Hilary]

Clerodendrum thomsoniae, Bleeding Heart. Easter Lily

A stamp from Grenada issued in 1975

I was thrilled to see this plant growing in the
 Greenhouse at the Arganzuela Crystal Palace in Madrid,
 Invernadero del Palacio de Cristal de Arganzuela.
I probably could have got a better photo if I had re arranged the flower a little but that is a big no no in such places.

You can read more about it here
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b663

Caroline Harbouri mentions this plant in her letter from the President,
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN issue number 61, July 2010,
GARDENS AND EXPECTATIONS.

[Charithea]

Hilary, this photo is of our Clerodendrum x speciosum  which has Clerodendrum thomsoniae as one of its parents.

[Hilary]

Someone has just asked me if it grows in Greece.
I will tell them to read your post

[Hilary]

Campanula glomerata, Clustered bellflower

This stamp was issued by Mongolia in 1960

The RHS has information about this plant which you can read here
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/96441/i-Campanula-glomerata-i/Details

Campanula glomerata is mentioned in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN in issue number 80, April 2015
This time not in an article but in a book review.
Flora of the Silk Road : An Illustrated Guide By Christopher Gardner & Basak Gardner reviewed by Caroline Harbouri

[Umbrian]

Many of the streets in the small town where I now live are lined with Lime trees and the heady fragrance from their flowers pervades the air. This year the trees are laden with  blossom and looking particularly beautiful.

[David Dickinson]

Rome too Umbrian. The evening air was incredible with a series of trees just at the end of my short road. All over now but worth the wait until next year.

[Charithea]

What a coincidence.  Friday morning I went to the Nursery near the village to get a purple flowering Leucophylllum( (langmaniae?) and the wife of the owner, who I know well, was telling me about her trip to Berlin she made a few weeks ago.  She was trying to describe the 'perfume' of the flowers of the trees she saw in Unter den Linden in Mitte.  She said she has never smelt anything so nice before.  Did I by chance know the name of the tree since I had lived there? I wrote the three names down and asked her to Google them. (Lime tree, Linden tree and Tilia).  As far as I know we don't have them here in Cyprus.