Autumn Mood

 Louise Moillon, 1634 Still Life with Bowl of Curaçao Oranges

 Balthasar van der Ast, 17th century, Still Life with fruit and shells

Juan Fernandez "El Labrador", 17th. Century, Still Life with Grapes

 

Frans Snyders, 1630 Dettail of Still Life with Grapes and Game

Event: Orticolario

A truly beautiful garden event at the Villa Erba on the Como Lake, next 4-6th of October.
This edition is dedicated to Dahlias...
more about this event on: www.orticolario.it

http://www.orticolario.it/index.php?pag=152

Have some fun in the veggie garden!

We're definitely heading towards autumn - it's official by now! I'm not particularly happy about it, but there is a good side to it too: the new seed and plant catalogues we start to devoure voraciously until we make our next planting choices.
I do not grow vegetables myself -( I do grow lots of herbs) and yet I cannot but feel a sort of childish curiosity and wonder for this unusual fruits and vegetables! If I'd had a real garden and lots of space I would definitely try some of these garden weirds just for the fun of it.

Cucamelons or Mexican Sour Cucumbers

 Lemon Cucumbers

Asian Winged Beans ( No idea how to cook with them, but there should be plenty of tips in the huge Internet sea)

Pretzel Beans

 Parisian Round Carrots - probably pain carrots, but aren't they just cute?

Honey Queen Raspberry

Hungarian Black Peppers

 Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes

 Watermelon Radishes

Now there is definitely no excuse for not eating up the vegetables!
You can find the seeds at the heirloom seed producers.
Check out this site if you are looking for heirloom seeds: http://empowured.com/seed-saver-sources-organic-gmo-free-non-hybrid-untreated/

holiday readings

I guess most of us are away on a well deserved summer break and there is nothing sweeter than browsing through a good book while relaxing.
So here are two books and a truly lovely magazine that caught my eye:

While the first two books are written by two giants of landscape design who hardly need any introduction, the third is a new online and free magazine I came across through a Facebook friend and magazine collaborator. It is called Blossomzine and is a truly delectable reading!

Blossomzine is a digital quarterly magazine, entirely free and dedicated to anything green, from gardening to design, vegetarian and traditional cooking, fashion, botany, and flower bouquets worth reading. Its bilingual edition in Italian and English makes it accessible to a wide range of public.
http://blossomzine.eu/

Plant Profile: Watsonia

It's been an awful long time since I have been posting... work and a truly rotten season, due to facade renovation works, which brought my plants to the verge of mere survival, have kept me away from my appointments with you, my virtual gardening friends!

Now, a couple of days before holidays, things have become a bit more relaxed and I can dedicate time to my writing.

So, do you know the Bugle Lily? The first time I have seen Watsonias, those truly beautiful South African plants, has been at the Barcelona Botanical Garden. They were planted in fat clumps on a mild slope and the sight was really of the most lovely. The blooms in shades ranging from white to dark pink were forming generous bunches.

Watsonias own their name to the 18th century British botanist, Sir William Watson and are a member of the iris family.

Though endemic in the South African fynbos, they happily adapt to the Mediterranean climate, but some can cope with a wider range of conditions, mainly continental climate with summer rainfall. . An easy and uncomplicated perennial, the Bugle Lily has been neglected by mainstream nurseries to favor the much better known Gladioli for reasons which I honestly don't understand. Their erect growing habit, not needing any staking or support makes them a far better acquisition to any garden, unless you dislike plants that bloom without fuzz for weeks on!

 The species grows from corms. It is dormant in summer and grows in winter, which is the rainy season in its native habitat. It has tall strap-like leaves growing in a fan arrangement. It may grow up to two metres tall.

It flowers for up to 4-5 weeks in spring, which makes it a really interesting plant for perennial borders.

 

The most commonly cultivated species is the pink-flowered Watsonia borbonica and its white mutant 'Arderne's White'. These were crossed with Watsonia meriana and other species in the early 20th century by breeders including John Cronin in Australia and Luther Burbank in California to produce a wide range of cultivars.

 W. Wedding Bells (Lamble Nurseries)

W. Marginata Alba

Seasonal disaster

Dear folks, I haven't been posting for an awful long time now....

Some very nasty (and much longer than initially previewed) facade renovation works - distressed my dear little plants - so this season there will be little going on on my terrace.
So sad this might be - from a gardener's point of view, of course - my dear green babies are slowly recovering.
After month on end with barely any light, now the weakened creatures have to stand a terrible red mites attack. I wonder if this will have an end?
Meanwhile, while waiting for some sparing blooms I send you all my greetings in form of this funny cartoon about cats and gardening:  

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kWuIGAZ1x2I

Something for the library

www.verticalfarm.com