[Umbrian]

What a beautiful colour that Tritonia is..... lovely flower

[Hilary]

Looking through THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 65, July 2011 I came across the article by David J. Bracey ARGAN OIL

I have never seen the tree Argania spinosa and it looks as if Morocco has fallen off our list of places to visit.

However, I found a photo, here on the Forum of the fruit of the tree, taken by John J of Cyprus

I hope you enjoy reading the article and like the photo, which I have lifted from another section of the Forum   

[John J]

The photo was taken during a MGS trip to Morocco in 2014. Below are another photo of a tree and of the women preparing the nuts for processing.
The MGS AGM this year is scheduled to take place in Morocco in October, providing the situation has improved by then I assume.

[Hilary]

Your second photo shows the thorns more clearly and a ripe fruit ready to drop to the ground to be harvested. I wonder if they shake the tree to help the fruit  drop

[Umbrian]

As the lockdown continues here in Italy and the temperatures rise daily, I have had to find a suitable place to house the many pots of plants I have been preparing and growing on for a project I got involved in last year. Some American friends, with a second home close by, asked if I would oversee and help with the restoration of their much loved, but rather neglected garden. During a mild winter much remedial work was completed regarding thorough weeding and soil improvement, pruning of overgrown shrubs or removal where necessary and assessment of perennials. My garden always offers self sets and the opportunity to take cuttings etc and I also took advantage of the annual end of year sale at a local nursery. Just when the time for the really pleasurable task of planting arrived I sadly found myself unable to travel outside the commune I live.
I also sowed many more pots of seeds than normal this year for this project and so also have those to care for- let's hope the situation improves soon.

[Hilary]

Vigna caracalla.

Caroline Harbouri mentions this plant in her article POT-GROWN CLIMBERS FROM SEED, THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 65 July, 2011

The first time I saw this climber was in October 2003, just before we invested in a digital camera. However, I was very excited to see this unknown plant hanging from a balcony in Pyrgi, Chios, hence the very poor photo

Some years later, 2012 to be exact, I was pushing my granddaughter's pram in Sparta and was even more thrilled to see this vine entwined around some garden railings, and the flowers at eye level

Pyrgi is the village on Chios famous for the houses decorated with black and white motifs. We had holidayed on Chios in 1998 and visited the village but mostly relied on Postcards of the houses rather than photos, again pre digital times

[Hilary]

The rain stopped a couple of days ago and the wind dropped last night. At last we can open windows and door on both sides of the house, I won't mention the mini earthquake we had last night

Today it was a glorious day and we ventured out to walk along the beach side path. Other people were out also but all being very careful to keep a good distance. There was new snow on Ziria and another mountain further west which I have never discovered its name. Across the gulf a couple more mountains were sporting new snow.

Somewhere in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN there is an article about the preponderance of yellow flowers in Spring, Do you think I could find it ? I could not

Yes, most of the wild flowers blossoming just now are yellow. Here are some photos from today and others from two weeks ago

The wild flowers and Tamarix trees  stood up well to the gale force winds but not the telephone box

[Hilary]

A few days ago I wrote about the olive oil museum in Sparta

Here are some much better photos to illustrate the article by John Rendall

THE MUSEUM OF THE OLIVE AND GREEK OLIVE OIL in the journal number 41, July 2005


http://www.mediterraneangardensocietyarchive.org/grj.html

[Umbrian]

First flower unfurled on my bud laden Cistus - very early this year and the hotter than normal weather for early April seems to be affecting the edges of the delicate petals......
Also we have had very little rain this winter and the ground is very dry..... looks like a difficult year all round.

[John J]

Mention has been made of unseasonal weather on a couple of threads today. Yesterday we spent the morning working in the garden as usual, then in the afternoon we were hit with torrential rain and a thunderstorm that knocked out the electricity for a couple of hours. Other parts of the island had massive hailstorms with people sharing photos of the ground being covered in white, almost like a coating of snow. Completely out of phase with what should be happening at this time of the year.

[Hilary]

Spring here today. Should we light the wood fire this evening just because it is ready or should we cart the wood out onto the balcony again? Decisions, decisions

[Hilary]

Calycanthus occidentalis, Spice bush

I saw this plant mentioned in A VENETIAN GARDEN by Ida Tonini
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 42, October 2005 and it brought back memories of a trip we made to Constantinople/ Istanbul in June 2001.

On our way out of the Topkapi Palace grounds we saw a notice pointing to an exhibition of tents. On the way to see this exhibition we passed a Calycanthus bush, a plant I had never seen one before

 We were intrigued by the tents as for many years we had been ‘Happy Campers’ with the children. The tents we saw were a wonder of embroidery and bright coloured material. Apparently, they are now in storage at the Topkapi palace
 

[Hilary]

A natural rock garden on Taygetus seen on a walk by members of
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN SOCIETY, 13th of May, 2012

[Hilary]

Tulips, Prague Botanical Garden, May 2002

I wonder how many people visit this garden?

We were in the area visiting the Troja Chateau, then discovered the Zoo and later the Botanical Garden.
That is the joy of planning trips on you own rather than guided tours, although guided tours have their advantages

There is a section in the garden devoted to plants from the Mediterranean but I am afraid we didn’t see it   

[John J]

We only have one of these plants, Ornithogalum arabicum, although I would certainly like more. As well as being attractive the flower has a delicate, sweet scent.