Thank you for your welcomes, Duncan & Sacha. My apologies Harold if I
have upset anyones sensibilities....you are probably right.
Mine is a garden in 3 sections...the higher levels are a series of dry
stone terraces containing soil so poor it struggles to grow weeds, the
middle level on which the house sits has a thin layer of imported soil
over a soft limestone, and the bottom level was left wild apart from an
annual going over with a strimmer to keep my husband happy. Until last
year, the main crops on the bottom half of my slope were pine cones and
collared dove droppings. After a particularly nasty and painfull
encounter with a nest of processionary caterpillars, I approached the
Town Hall for permission to fell the remaining 7 pines. This permission
was granted on the understanding that I planted 2 trees for every one
that I felled. As tree could be interpreted loosely, I took advantage
of a special offer at the local garden centre and included 5 palm trees
in my selection, as I know these do well without regular watering. Most
of the other trees I chose are fruit trees; apricot, 3 varieties of
plum, pomegranate and nispero.These were all planted last April. The
apricot has flowered well. The red plum and the yellow plum have had
few flowers, but the prune, which is only just showing signs of life,
is full of flower buds. This tree was the only one attacked by aphids
last year, but as it came from a different source, maybe had not
received the same systemic pest control as the others.
I have struggled here for twenty years, and now work on the premise
that if a wild plant does well, don't fight it. The small bright pink
flowers of our resident bindweed provide colour without being too
invasive. What does well? In flower at the moment are wisteria, yellow
jasmin, lavender, sage, roses, orange trees, dymorphia (known locally
as matacabras...goat killers) kalanchoe and freesias, which propogate
easily from seed here. I also have a flowering shrub sold locally as
'Polygona' which has a purple pea flower throughout the year. The
Lantana bushes would normally be in flower, but have been hard hit by
our unusually cold winter (the worst for 30 years) and now need a
severe pruning, as the top growth is burnt, but the almond tree seemed
to appreciate the long dormant spell, and has set a good crop of nuts.
From now until June I can hope to see Aloe, Bignonia and Peruvian
honeysuckle coming into flower. After that, the bindweed reigns supreme
until the heat subsides again in October. As Duncan has his
"Mediterranean garden", I have my "English garden". To the north side
of the house and well shaded from the summer sun, except at high noon,
there is a small strip on the edge of a bank, and a gravelled area at
its base, where I can grow hydrangias, lilies and fuschias in pots. I
have had a clematis in a pot against the house wall for 5 years, and it
seems to be happy. This post is developing into a rambler, so I'll shut
up. Duncan, off the top of my head, if you are asking about fruit trees
in particular, you might try a nispero. Mine seemed to have come
through a frosty spell without much damage, although the commercial
growers report losses. They are higher up than us, so may have had
colder temps. Nisperos sold in nurseries are grafted onto quince, but
they grow well from seed, just take longer to fruit. If you can't track
down a plant, I could send some seeds over when the fruit are in season
as they need to be planted fresh. The seeds look like small chestnuts.
Jo