Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and also to gardening! I wish my old dad were here to advise me, he had extremely green thumbs!

I live with my wife in central Italy and after seven years we are finally in a position to turn our attention to the garden.

At the moment the nights are clear and the temperature drops to well below zero; it was -14°C a few nights ago. Just now in the sunshine it's around 17°C. During the summer months the mid-day temperature can hit 42°C which is hot even for me!

The question is what would folks recommend for bedding plants - I am about to start creating rockeries etc., (the garden contains a number of slopes).

Over the years we've found that Ice Plants are the best at surviving the summer heat but I don't want to have a garden full of Ice plants!

The garden faces south East.

I'm thinking along the lines of growing from seed - is that the most economical approach?

Any help would be very gratefully received.