[Hilary]

Protea aristata - Ladismith sugarbush
This 10c stamp from the 1977 South Africa series FLORA, PROTEA PLANTS
Is on the 'vulnerable' list of plants.
Here is a new word for  me , obconic.

«The beautiful, reddish pink flowerhead is obconic (inverted cone) to bell-shaped, is 110–140 mm long and 100–120 mm wide.»

A reference to Protea is in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 78, October 2014
MY GARDENING PHILOSOPHY by Anda Wayland

[Hilary]

Protea eximia - Duchess Protea
A stamp from the 1977 series issued by South Africa  named FLORA, PROTEA PLANTS.

The photo was taken in South Africa around 1962. The plant might or might not be Protea eximia

As I have said before Protea are mentioned many times in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN.
If you haven't already read it go to issue number 59, January 2010 and read
THE STORY OF STORMS RIVER HOMESTEAD, A WOODLAND GARDEN IN SOUTH AFRICA.
by Anda Wayland
There are photos which illustrate this article on the MGS website

[Hilary]

Olea europaea
This stamp was issued by Italy in 1951 with the title of  AIRPLANE OVER BELL TOWER, ROME.
 Since it looked more like an  olive branch against the  sky to me we went out last Sunday to take a photo of a Greek olive branch.
The sky was a uniform grey, not the bright blue we are used to.

From the many articles about Olive trees and olives in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN  I chose
THE MUSEUM OF THE OLIVE AND GREEK OLIVE OIL by John Rendall in issue number 41, July 2005.

Photos, taken by Jay Rendall, of this museum to illustrate the article can be found on the MGS website.

[Hilary]

Gossypium - Cotton
A stamp issued in 1949 by Bahawalpur to celebrate the
25th Anniversary of the Reign of  Sadeq Mohammad Khan V.
Since I don't have another photo of a cotton plant I have included a snap of cotton material instead.

In THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 6, Autumn 1996 there is an article about a caterpillar which affects Hibiscus
THE COTTON SPINY BOLLWORM Earias insulana by Richard Dight.
Now I know why the buds of my Hibiscus plant kept dropping off

[Hilary]

Olea europaea Olive tree.

This stamp was issued by Italy in 1945 and depicts someone planting an Olive tree.

We used to have a tiny piece of land where we planted fifteen trees, seven of which were Olive trees.
Here son M is making some comment about the tree being planted, in 1975.

The third photo shows the trees  as they are now. After years of being abandoned to their own devices they are now enclosed in a new fence and being well looked after. We paid them a visit last week and were glad to see that the trees had been tidied up and the land cleared but were also sad that the new fence barred us from going in and talking to them.

The article I have chosen from THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN to illustrate this post is from issue number 34, October 2003.
PRUNING OLIVE TREES by Brian Chatterton

[Hilary]

Sasakia charonda Japanese emperor, Great purple emperor.
This stamp was issued by Japan in 1956 and depicts the National Butterfly of Japan.

I know this butterfly does not flutter around in Mediterranean gardens but I did so want to recommend the article written by Melissa Hamilton, GOING NATIVE, where she  explains how to make the garden into a retreat for local wildlife, butterflies, insects, bees, birds and bats to name a few.

THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 83, January 2016
This article, illustrated with photos, can also be found  on the MGS website

[Hilary]

Lilium candidum
This stamp was issued by Israel in 1963 to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Independence.

The photo was taken in a friend's garden in Ancient Corinth.

In THE FLORA OF OTTOMAN GARDENS II
FLOWERING PLANTS.
 Nicholas Stavroulakis mentions that

Lilies [ Zambak ]

are known to have been in Ottoman gardens

THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN , number 11, Winter 1997/8

[Alisdair]

Gosh, how beautifully your friend grows these lovely lilies, Hilary.

[Hilary]

Protea magnifica

Protea magnifica has the second largest flower head after P. cynaroides, the king protea. The queen protea is one of the most attractive and sought after proteas. No picture can describe how strikingly beautiful and fluffy it is with flower head colour varying naturally. With its rounded bushy form, this protea will look great in any garden environment.

Protea are mentioned in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 79, January 2015.
THE 2104 AGM: THE MAIN PROGRAMME, MENTON, COTE D'AZUR by Edith Haeuser.

There are also photographs to illustrate the article in the MGS website

[Hilary]

Ananas comosus -  Pineapple
Issued  between 1986 and 2000 this stamp from Malaysia features a Pineapple plant.

A couple of winters ago I played around with a 'Theme a Day' photo task .
This one must have been 'Fruit Still Life'
We don't normally have a fresh pineapple in the house.

In THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 69, July 2012, Jaime Ruiz tells us about gardening in  Mallorca

THE IDLE THIRD TERRACE:
TROPICAL EXPERIMENTS IN MALLORCA, PART 1

[Hilary]

Cerambyx cerdo -  Great Capricorn Beetle
This stamp was issued by Hungary  in 1954.
The beetle lives in old decaying trees.
Anyone interested in more information about it can read the short piece I copied from the Internet.

CERAMBYX  CERDO
This is an obligate saproxylic species. This species lives in veteran trees which are currently in decline across Europe; regeneration of these trees is slow and there may still be a 'gap' during which time there would be very little suitable habitat available for this species.
It develops in Quercus. The larvae first develop under the bark of stressed living or dying trees, later burrowing deeper in the wood of sick, sun-exposed stems. The life cycle is at least three years, with pupation in late summer in the wood. Adults winter in the pupal cell and emerge in V-VIII, and are found on the host plants - it is predominantly a nocturnal and crepuscular species. In France trees (Quercus, Castanea) with traces ofC. cerdo usually have a diameter greater than 40 cm and are sun exposed. The species is below the altitude of 900 m. In Romania it has been reported from all type of oaks. In the south, it has been found in Quercus cerris, Quercus pubescens, Quercus pedunculiflora, and in the north, it has been found in Quercus robur, Quercus petraea. Adults became active from mid May, until August in mountains. During the day they are hidden inside holes, under bark, and during the evening they become active. In the European part of Turkey larvae are said to develop in Acer, Carpinus, Castanea,Cupressus, Fraxinus, Fagus, Platanus, Prunus, Salix, Quercus, Ulmus. Adults are active in VI-VII and the life cycle is three or four years (Canakcıoglu 1993).
In Hungary this species lives in thermophilous oak woods (mainly in turkey oak woods) in the hills and the lower mountain areas. Important populations occur in wood pastures and parklands where huge, old, solitary pedunculate oaks occur. 

How to provide homes for insects and beetles can be found in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 85, Jul7 2016.
GOING NATIVE: GARDEN DESIGN FOR WILDLIFE by Melissa Hamilton

[Hilary]

Gentiana clusii - Gentian
A stamp from CESKOSLOVENSKO- CZECHOSLOVAKIA issued in 1960.
Designed by Karel Svolinsky and engraved by Ladislav Jirka.

Gentians are mentioned in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN issue 76, April 2014.

SOME MEDITERRANEAN GARDENS ON THE BLACK SEA by David J. Bracey

The photo is of a bookmark, one of my prized possessions, a gift my aunt brought for me from  Switzerland many years ago

[Hilary]

Cyclamen europaeum
This flower is depicted on a stamp issued by Czechoslovakia in 1960

The article I have chosen for you to read today is in
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN, 56, April 2009.
CYCLAMEN: THE FLOWERS OF THE KOPELOULA
By Caroline Davis

The photo of a Cyclamen plant was taken one April in the pass through the Taygetus Mountain from Sparta to Kalamata. I have just named the photo Cyclamen not being sure of its Latin name.

[Hilary]

A butterfly today
Pieris rapae, Small cabbage white

This stamp was issued by Japan in 1980

An article about butterflies can be found in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN,
Number  64, April 2011.

DON’T LET THEM FLUTTER BY:
ENCOURAGE BUTTERFLIES INTO YOUR GARDEN
 By Joanna Millar

[Hilary]

Brassica napus, Rapeseed
The same stamp as yesterday but featuring the flower of Brassica napus

By coincidence this plant is mentioned in the same issue of THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN which I recommended yesterday  but in a different article

TMG number 64, April 2001
WHY ARE SO MANY SPRING FLOWERS YELLOW?
By D.J. Bracey