[Hilary]

Does it not spread?
My old neighbour had many in her, mostly, untended garden

[John J]

I'm hoping so, Hilary, it hasn't had chance to do so yet, it was grown from seed.

[Charithea]

Hilary, I visited the Prague Botanic Garden in the company of my sister and her then 13 year old grandson. He is now 27. I don't remember the tulips but that was the place were I first sawPerovskia atriplicifolia now called Salvia yangiiand fell in love with them. It was raining lightly and to keep my great nephew  interested in taking down the names of plants I promised to take him to lunch to eat rabbit and buy him a beer.

[Hilary]

Ah, the beer in Prague!

[Hilary]

Aeonium haworthii, Pin wheel

A very useful plant to have which needs no care and goes forth and multiplies.
We inherited ours in 1981 and it has been replanted many times, not to mention the cuttings given here and there.
Recently I redid all the succulents, the first photo is of the new plant and the other two are of the old plant in flower

Aeonium haworthii is mentioned in
A SUCCULENT-CACTUS GARDEN IN SOUTH LAKONIA by Kornelia Roggatz
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 28, April 2020

[Umbrian]

That's lovely John especially the black centre spot, mustblook out for that.😊

[Hilary]

Ornithogalum arabicum
My old neighbour called it Μαυρομάτι ,Blackeye and I see that Jaqueline Tyrwhitt in her book MAKING A GARDEN ON A GREEK HILLSIDE also gives its Greek name as Mavromati

[John J]

Hilary, just goes to show how common names can be confusing as here in Cyprus the flowers of the Melia azedarach are known as Mavromata (Blackeyes).

[Hilary]

Antirrhinum majus, Snapdragon

Looking through THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 28, April 2002 last night I saw an article I had written so many years ago,
SNAPDRAGONS (ANTIRRHINUM MAJUS) 
 
Now with the wonders of modern science I was able to scan two  old photos of snapdragons, which I mention in the article, and put them on my computer,

1 The white snapdragon plant high up a wall in Spetses
2 Yellow, red and white Snapdragons growing in a yard where there is  now a huge block of flats
3 Some bright snapdragons in a village garden
3 Light pink snapdragons growing by the side of the road, seen this morning while we were walking in streets away from the seafront as it was windy AGAIN

[Umbrian]

They provide a good lesson in survival I think and are a good lesson for us all atbthe moment.

[Hilary]

Laurus nobilis, Bay tree, Δάφνη

There is a Bay tree in the back yard of the block of flats but I never seem to get a good photo of it. The last time I tried to photograph the tree it was breezy; the sun was in the wrong place and there was a car parked in front of it. In the end I gave up and cut a branch of the leaves and flowers to snap in the house

A quotation from
WAR-TORN ABOVE THE ADRIATIC:
THE TRSTENO ARBORETUM
By Jadranka Beresford-Peirse
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 28, April 2002

“The olive tree for peace, laurel for glory and myrtle for youth and beauty”

The TRSTENO ARBORETUM is mentioned by Fleur Pavlidis in
SPRING IN CROATIA
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 73, July 2013

There are some photographs illustrating this article here
http://www.mediterraneangardensocietyarchive.org/73-croatia.html

If you read the first mentioned article please read the second

[Hilary]

Sedum morganianum, Donkey’s tail

A few years ago, a friend invited me to tea and told me to actually walk to her house up a hill and out of town. I set off to walk there, just to prove I could, and was rewarded with this sight, a Sedum morganianum plant hanging over a balcony railing and in flower.

This succulent is mentioned in a few issues of THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN and I have  ‘used’ each article before, I was hoping to find an article I had not recommended another time.
Now to reread  GANNA WALSKA’S LOTUSLAND  by Martin Wood in
 THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 4, Spring 1996

[John J]

Our Bank's roses are doing their best to brighten the days.

[Hilary]

Bougainvillea

A common sight around the Mediterranean.

This Bougainvillea grows near us but in a street, we hardly ever have the reason to go down. My husband had seen the plant several years ago and was impressed by it so I went and took its photo. We went to have a look at it today on our exercise walk. The trunk is very stout and reaches the third floor of the building, At the moment there are no flowers but a lot of leaves.

We will have to walk down that street in July  to see the flower display

To read about the history of Bougainvillea read
BOUGAINVILLE AND COMMERSON by John Bradshaw
 THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 46, October 2006

[Umbrian]

Had given up hoping for flowers on my Viola 'Confederate Blue' this year as the unseasonably hot weather had caused each bud to shrivel up before opening. However after a few cooler days one flower has opened although the markings are nowhere near as pronounced as usual.