Things I like - The Banksia parasol, Seville

Sorting out old pictures, I found this photo of a trully stunning Banksia Lutea Rose covering like a giant parasol a street fountain in Seville, Spain.

The two plants covered a 12 m2 area with a dense matt of pale yellow flowers like a starry sky.
Banksias are among my favourite roses, because in spite of their tenderness, they are real champions of strength.

What's blooming now: Soupert & Notting Rose

Introduced by Pernet Pere in 1874, this relatively small Moss Rose has a charm of its own. The blooms are rather small and intensely fragrant ( it reminds me of raspberries, but that of course is quite subjective) and ruffled. The colour is a strong pink with a bluish hint that fades a bit with age.

Foliage is matte green and the stems are covered with tiny but ferrocious thorns.

Some breeders list it as repeating rose , but in my experience it never did. And so says David Austin too!

Soupert & Notting is a rather small, bushy plant.

Some books for the summer

Some nice booklets for the holydays:

I GIARDINI CHE NON C'ERANO
Angelo Vecchio, Edizioni La Rocca

 This book presents four new garden creations arround historical villas in Sicilly.

BEAUTIFUL NO-MOW YARDS
(50 amazing lawn alternatives)
Evelyn J. Hayden, Timber Press, USA 2012

Some great ideas how to get rid of the lawn slavery and keep a stylish garden!

FREE_ RANGE CHICKEN GARDEN
Jessi Bloom, Timber Press, USA 2012

A funny booklet about how to create a chicken friendly garden.

Personally I like chicken ( I know it sounds a bit weird), I mean the beautiful ornamental ones and really belive they can help get rid of pests and keep a healthy biotope in our gardens.

Zucchini flowers from Italy

I do confess I am not a huge fan of the flower eating craze...
I like elder flower cordial and accacia fritters and that is it... No big fan of begonias, calendulas and tulips - in my plate...
But zucchini flowers are quite a different story!
Few things can compare with the absolute delicacy of filled zucchini flowers coated with light batter and fried to perfection! There is something almost metaphysical about them... so light and inconsistent and yet so unbearable good.

Last week in Milan, I went to a local market and came across my beloved delicacy... A feast for the eyes and palate.

Try them in the classical "Fiori Fritti" style or for a lighter version filled with a ricotta, pinoli and lemon zest filling and lightly sauteed in a pan without the batter.

Vegetable eating has never been more poetical...

Plant Profiles: Convolvulus Cneorum

Now this is one of my all time loves! Convolvulus Cneorum  Family: Convolvulaceae

 Mind you we are talking about a relative of the threaded bindweed - Convolvulus arvensis, the one we all wish Creation had not invented!
In fact the flowers are quite similar, maybe a touch stiffer or fuller, but here the resemblances end.

The C. Cneorum is a very elegant round shrub, with half woody branches and masses of silky and silvery leaves.The texture is lovely and so smooth that you want to stoke and caress it every time you pass by.

It grows into a globular shape with very little effort - maybe a short trimming is enough. And what a growth! A well established Convolvulus is a real power plant, a medium sized pot can form a 1 m bush in two years.

The pale pink buds open into porcelain white flowers, generally produced in late spring, but when the plant is in a well suited position it can flower sporadically for longer periods.
It performs best in sites with well drained soils and full sun and requires some winter protection from extreme cold in areas above the Mediterranean.

Otherwise it does not require any special cares, some liquid or organic fertilizer is welcomed, but otherwise this hard working fellow is not affected by any type of plagues  - and this alone is a reason to love and respect it!

The Convolvulus Cneorum does a great job when planted wherever you need a big silvery cushion, between roses or in borders, together with dark scarlet blooms or anything that needs a quiet , low key surrounding - think about all those black flowers we talked about some time ago.

Personally I love it in pots - just because it makes such perfect silver balls - which stay attractive way after they got out of bloom!  In fact, in mild climate areas it is quite showy even during the winter period. The velvety texture and the subtle shade of silver green makes them suitable for any spot that requires a plant with architectural qualities. Besides that it is such a fuzz free plant when compared to the lovely but not so easy to handle box plants.

A splash of colour

Another breath taking Bougainvillea on the streets of Barcelona. This ones fence two sides of a sports ground. They form 7 m tall walls of deep magenta purple flowers.
Drought tollerant and low maintenance, these Bougainvilleas make the perfect planting and add an huge colour splash for month and month.

What's blooming now: Hydrangea Macrophilla

Here I confess my immoderate love for Hydrangeas of all types and fashions... huge mop-heads, lacy paniculatas, creamy and lime coloured Annabelles and majestic H. Petiolaris - the climbing giant one!
Now, living in Barcelona does not necessarily make the best premisses for growing this shade and moisture loving plants.

Never the less, a gardener is a notoriously stubborn creature with an iron hard faith in his capabilities and a pronounced taste for defying nature and rules atogether! So this is the prelude to my obstinate attempt to grow hydrangeas in this sun baked area - otherwise much better suited for Bougainvillea and other sun lovers...
On a trip to France I fell under the spell of almost 3 metres high growing macrophillas - which adorned a stone wall. I had to have that!!! An irrational urge - in spite of not having a stonewall nor the cool, damp place to go with it, led me to taking cuttings ( which had to survive the long way home).
Vite fait! the barren bits of branches where taken back home and planted in pots.

A couples of years - and many, many buckets of water later, this is the result:

Was I wrong to try? Over 40 heads on each plant were a copious reward for my beeing so stubborn.
And I love my French girls...

A nice week end to every one!