[Hilary]

Matthiola sinuata on the beach in Corinth, yesterday

[Hilary]

A peony from the 1960’s
When my parents, who lived in the north east of England,  moved to a newly built bungalow in a newly built housing estate on what had once been a farm, they had three gardens to deal with.
The front garden which faced the north and enjoyed / suffered from regular winds was the first to be dealt with as it faced the road.
Although the estate was declared smoke free for some reason or other coal fires could be used for one year.
The coal man was very interested in the garden and donated two large peony plants from his garden.
The plants thrived for 40 odd years until the bungalow was sold and the front garden paved over. I often wonder if anyone saved the peony.

[Hilary]

Hyacinth in a glass vase.

I did everything I was told to do but this Hyacinth grew on the slant.

Here is a photo of the Hyacinth how it grew and a photo as it should be, upright.
As a bonus a postage stamp from Finland issued for Christmas 1985.
Also a postage stamp from Spain, 2022

[Hilary]

Spergularia marina, Lesser Sand- Spurrey

Seen blooming in February under the Tamarisk trees at Lychnari, Corinthia.

And a couple of photos of Lychnari.

[Hilary]

A cactus in flower in February
This plant lives on our south facing balcony which gets a lot of sunshine.

[Hilary]

A white Hyacinth in front of a too blue background.

Looking through my old photos I came across one of some municipal planting in Bath, April 2008.

White pink and blue Hyacinths
 

[Hilary]

Eruca sativa
Growing in some waste land by the sea in Corinth.

This plant is mentioned in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 64 April 2911
 in
From the president, Jean Vache
 TRAVELLING SEEDS 

I am posting a scan of the piece mentioning Eruca for you to enjoy

[Hilary]

White freesia from the south facing balcony late  February 2024

[Hilary]

Stellaria apetala, Chickweed

Even weeds are wildflowers.

This plant turns up growing in many of my plant pots and even now is growing in the balcony wall, it won't be there for long.

I had trouble/fun  trying to take a photo of the flower and even more trouble identifying the plant.

[Hilary]

Antirrhinum siculum, Sicilian snapdragon

I am pleased to report that this plant, grown from seed, acquired from THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN SOCIETY seed exchange, managed to survive the winter and it is looking bigger, stronger and has produced more flowers.

Antirrhinum siculum is mentioned in
SIX SPAROZA PLANTS:
COLOURS IN SPRING
By Caroline Harbouri
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 76 April 2014

[Hilary]

Grevillea johnsonii

For sale at our local plant nursery
 
There is an article devoted to Grevilleas in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 7 Winter 1996/97 which is available as a free download

 https://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/journal7.pdf

[Hilary]

Tropaeolum majus, Nasturtium

Going for a ride a couple of weeks ago hoping to find ‘new’ to me wild flowers I was horrified to see that most of the wild flowers had dried up and some of the olive groves even raked over.
However, to make up for my disappointment we came across this bright Nasturtium plant climbing a rough stone wall at the edge of a field, no sign of civilization in sight and the road came to an abrupt end

Nasturtiums are mentioned in
A HERBAL RHAPSODY by Caroline Davies
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 72 April 2013

And as a bonus, a scan of a postage stamp Taiwan depicting  a Tropaeolum majus issued in 2015