Category: Plants
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Anemones for springtime color
Anemone blanda Anemone blanda (“Grecian windflower” or “Balkan anemone”) may be an unpresuming little flower but it is far from being bland. As soon as the spring sun comes out in March and throughout April it makes for very pretty spots of color under the trees. I usually buy the Blue Shades mix and there…
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Euonymus japonicus
Euonymus japonicus is an East Asian native but very popular as hedge plant or shrub in France because it is easy, robust, and evergreen. It is also drought-resistant once established and hardy to -15℃. We have two different kinds in the garden, that were already here when we moved in. One is a massive dark-green…
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The Orchard
This garden had been an orchard once upon a time. There was a cherry plum (prunus cerasiferus) that had created its own little forest, damaging the garden wall in the process. A big old fruit tree of unknown kind that was more or less dead on its legs. Two stunted old apple and pear trees,…
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Sternbergia lutea
One of those nice discoveries in an old garden: brillant yellow crocus flowers appearing after the first rains in September and lasting til October. The leaves stay around until the spring, the plant then draws back into the bulb over summer. Sternbergia lutea is a native of Southern Europe and North Africa as well as…
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Centranthus ruber (Valeriana rubra)
A pretty Mediterranean native that comes in a more or less bright pink, as well as in a reddish pink color (Centranthus ruber coccineus) and white (Centranthus ruber albus). It’s fairly heat and drought resistant with occasional deep watering. It is supposed to bloom from May through August. In this hot Mediterranean garden it will…