As most of you will know, I recently had a holiday in the South of France.... This post is about plants in the garden of the villa in which we stayed.
The garden was full of interest, both in terms of layout and content, but was a little neglected (by my exacting standards, at least!). With a little bit of work it could be absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, many of the flowerbeds were full of weeds, but even weeds can be the subject of some interesting photos. What about these Dandelions?
Even this Thistle looks attractive. If you had sowed it deliberately, you'd probably say it was a lovely flower rather than a weed.
But, weeds aside, there were plenty of very nice flowers in the garden too. I know the names of most of these, but not all of them:
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| Geranium |
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| Geranium |
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| Geranium |
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| Hydrangea |
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| Wistaria |
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| Oleander |
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| Lantana |
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| Lavender |
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| Ivy |
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| Black Bamboo |
And this is the "Unknown" section...
There was a whole hedge of this stuff - silvery-grey glaucous leaves and some really beautiful flowers, rather reminiscent of Passion Flowers...
This shrub was everywhere, growing big and tall (several metres in height). I nicknamed it the Strawberry Tree.
There was a lot of this too - A large shrub about two metres tall. The flowers look a bit like Sweet Peas, but the leaves were more like Hebe.
If you recognise any of these, can you please let me know?
For me the garden was missing one important element - edible plants! There were one or two Rosemary bushes and an orange tree with tiny (bitter!) fruits - was it a Calamondin?? - but that was about it. A herb garden is definitely required...
I think the starry flowers. The three after the black bamboo are all osteospernums or cape daisies. I've grown some from seed this year.
ReplyDeleteSue; Thanks. I have googled for images of Osteospermum, and I think you are right. Are they easy to grow from seed? Do they need very warm conditions?
ReplyDeleteAll beautiful photos! I like the strawberry tree. I wonder what's inside that "strawberry"?
ReplyDeleteThe ones I am growing were easy - I don't know what the plants will turn out like. I germinated the seeds under the grow light in a spare room. Mine were giant mixed from T&M
ReplyDeleteI commented on this earlier but couldn't get it to post. I used to love planting flowers but now I almost never plant them unless they were a really good deal or they are edible, lol. Very nice pictures Mark. I hope you had a lovely time on your trip.
ReplyDeleteSome great plants. I alway enjoy looking at plants, the landscaping and nature in general while on holiday.
ReplyDeleteIt is a strawberry tree isn't it? I think its called Arbutus.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos, I particularly like the dandelions.
I agree with Mandy. The nickname you chose for the Strawberry Tree is actually the common name for it. The botanical name is Arbutus unedo. The shrub with the flowers that remind you of passion flowers is Pineapple Guava, Feijoa sellowania.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Sue for the identification of the Osteospermum flowers, and to Mandy and Anonymous for that of the Arbutus tree! Anyone know the shrub with flowers like the Sweet Pea?
ReplyDeleteIs it this
ReplyDelete