Here are just a few flower pictures from my trip to Calabria in Italy.
The pink messembryanthemum are particularly good for underplanting. In the right hand picture they are used beneath some impressive architectural Agave plants – the dramatic spiky green leaves of the Agave provide a sharp contrast to the bright flowers .This is an unsual idea for a south facing border providing the soil is gritty and well drained.
The wonderful colours basking in the Italian sunshine inspired me to plant a selection on my south facing terrace when I returned home. They will need protection at night if a frost is predicted over the next few weeks but this early planting should provide an excellent start for flowering in June – this is around two months later than southern Italy which has guaranteed sunshine almost every day and roughly 10c more warmth.
Creating a Mediterranean garden with drought-loving plants provides not only colour and texture in the garden but delectable scents if you use use aromatic plants such as lavender, sage and thyme. It is an easy thing to do as most nurseries stock a wide range and they are not normally too expensive. Planting Mediterranean plants in pots is another idea – they love poor soil and look spectacular on a terrace, surviving all summer without much attention. This makes over-wintering easy – just move the pots to a sheltered spot if you need to protect the plants from cold snaps.
Check out the Mediterranean video and plant lists on this site for more inspiration.The guru of drought loving plants is Beth Chatto – www.bethchatto.co.uk.
Sat, Apr 12, 2008
Italian Climate Change, Plants