Tag: flowers
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Mirabilis jalapa
Soil improvement between 2022 and 2024 definitely had a big effect on the inherited, self-seeding Mirabilis jalapa. Whereas in the summer of 2023, despite regular watering, they looked practically dead most of the time, in 2024, with a lot less watering, they popped back to life every night and looked splendid each morning. Mirabilis is…
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Bulbine frutescens
Bulbine frutescens is a very pretty evergreen succulent and one of those quintessential plants destined for a dry Mediterranean garden. As a native of South Africa it is not very frost hardy (-5℃ in well-drained soil) but very drought-tolerant (Filippi gives it a “code de sécheresse” of 5). In our garden, it has easily tolerated…
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Cosmos bipinnatus
Some plants just seem to want to give you “the finger”… When I think about how I coddled and cuddled my little cosmos seedlings last spring and summer, padding them with mulch, hovering over them with the watering can – and still the tiny little spindly things just wanted to die throughout the summer before finally…
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Oxalis articulata / triangularis
One of those nice surprises that an older garden can offer: two different Oxalis plants that keep popping up where they must have been planted a long time ago. Oxalis is a South American native that has been naturalized in many regions, including Southern France, Portugal and Spain. Depending on which source you look at,…
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Portulaca grandiflora
Portulaca: One of those simple and seemingly “stuffy” plants that I had always ignored – until I needed to find some pretty summer ground cover for two large pots on the terrace. These plants are everywhere and they are so inexpensive that they are practically thrown in with your purchase at the garden center. They…
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Achillea millefolium
I know there are many beautiful varietes but somehow I’m always underwhelmed by Achillea and its “homely” flowers. Supposedly they work in hot and dry climates so I’ve tried them in the garden. In 2022 I planted Achillea millefolium “White Beauty”. In the summer of 2023 their bright white quickly turned into a very dirty…