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.

On 2011-01-18, Abruzzo Clive wrote:

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!

Wow, the temp sure varies. How is it in the summer, the lows mostly? I
don't think that roses would survive the winters. I can be wrong. Do a
search on Google for some perineals that would.

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).

Can you make some terraces? That would keep the water from washing out
your hard work. I assume you have rocky soil.

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?

What do you want to grow?

Any help would be very gratefully received.

I'm sure you will receive lots.
--
Bud

Abruzzo Clive wrote:

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.

do you have any local garden societies you
can look to for help? a local greenhouse or
garden center can be helpful. check your
directory for master gardeners associations,
agricultural extention agencies, also ask
around (friends, co-workers, church, police,
social clubs, etc).

also, look around the neighborhood at the
yards and see who has what you like, introduce
yourself and ask them for help. bring cookies.

most gardeners love to talk about their plants
and often have clones/sprouts/extras to give away.

the more plants that you use that are adapted
to your climate the easier it is to take care of
them and this avoids the troubles brought on by
irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides and
herbicides. it also tends to be less expensive
in the long run.

as you gain more experience you can add more
difficult things to worry about.

are you planning on growing vegetables, greens
or fruits in some of the beds?


songbird

Any help would be very gratefully received.

I'm sure you will receive lots.
--
Bud

I'm sure he will too, but I'm frankly puzzled why he doesn't ask
around locally(oh, maybe he did?)

The people in that area would have experience, non e vero? Also,
aren't there any nurseries or garden stores in the area? And/or
garden clubs?

HB

Hi Abruzzo,

A lot depends on how long you are prepared to wait to get results, growing from seed allows you to select only the strongest seedlings for planting out. However this method requires that you are prepared to wait to see the end results.

Not knowing your financial status you may want to cultivate your own food to offset ever rising food costs. It would be advisable to download a crop rotation plan if you wish to cultivate your own food.

In this world of ever diminishing oil resources it may well be that you should acquaint yourself with the methods of cultivating crops. It is said that 2012 is the year when the world begins using more oil than is being produced.

The geographic location of your house would suggest that it would be good for the purpose of planting crops. There are many sites which you can access online, however it is up to plan for the future that you see unfolding.


uriel13

The mind is like a parachute it is totally useless unless its open

I'm sorry for the delay in replying I didn't receive an e-mail from the forum telling me that there were replies.

The situation here is a little odd - if I were in England then yes my neighbours would be the first port of call. Here in rural Italy it's somewhat different - no one is particularly interested in growing anything flower orientated other than Geraniums. We have tried Geraniums on a couple of occasions but unfortunately the sun scorches them.

The people here are all small-holders spending all of their time tending their vines and olive groves etc. They would consider a flower bed as something utterly frivolous - flower beds don't produce anything you can eat!

I see that you speak Italian, se volesse fammi qualche consiglio nella bella lingua La prego di farlo pure, sarebbe un grande piacere.

In article ,
Abruzzo Clive wrote:

Higgs Boson;910397 Wrote:
Any help would be very gratefully received.-

I'm sure you will receive lots.
--
Bud-

I'm sure he will too, but I'm frankly puzzled why he doesn't ask
around locally(oh, maybe he did?)

The people in that area would have experience, non e vero? Also,
aren't there any nurseries or garden stores in the area? And/or
garden clubs?

HB

I'm sorry for the delay in replying I didn't receive an e-mail from the
forum telling me that there were replies.

The situation here is a little odd - if I were in England then yes my
neighbours would be the first port of call. Here in rural Italy it's
somewhat different - no one is particularly interested in growing
anything flower orientated other than Geraniums. We have tried Geraniums
on a couple of occasions but unfortunately the sun scorches them.

The people here are all small-holders spending all of their time tending
their vines and olive groves etc. They would consider a flower bed as
something utterly frivolous - flower beds don't produce anything you can
eat!

I see that you speak Italian, se volesse fammi qualche consiglio nella
bella lingua La prego di farlo pure, sarebbe un grande piacere.

Non c'è un gruppo di notizie per questo?
--
- Billy
³When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.²
-Archbishop Helder Camara
http://peace.mennolink.org/articles/...acegroups.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth...130964689.html
20111812130964689.html