I've just re-read "Notes from an Italian Garden" by Joan Marble and
highly recommend it to everyone. It's a real joy to read of her
struggles to establish a garden from scratch and the triumphs she
achieves. She started her gardening life with a potted geranium on a
balcony in Rome and ended up with something a good deal bigger! She
also writes about several other gardens in Italy and all the plants
she mentions would be familiar to most people here.
--
Sacha