Algarve Country Garden 13th. to 21st. December 2007

Well, it had to arrive, and it has. The rain. It started on Tuesday afternoon, 18th December and since then we have had some torrential rain, thunder and lightning and it has been windy. The average night-time temperature has been 10 degrees, with a low on Sunday of 4 degrees. The average day-time temperature has been 16 degrees. We have had five inches of rain ( 125mms), so you can see it has been quite damp.

Whilst I was out getting some logs from the woodshed this morning, there was also a brief visit from a very unwanted visitor, a Heron, however it saw me and took off again immediately.

We did have a brief respite from the rain during this morning so I did manage to get one or two pictures, however the colour is disappearing from the garden, but I am sure that when the sun returns the rain will bring lots of flowers etc on.

The Clementines are now ready to eat and I am giving bags of them away. Also we have plenty of Lemons coming on the tree. We have only been without lemons for about a couple of weeks in the 10 years we have been here.

There are still some roses in bloom, which do add some colour to the garden.

I also noticed in my trip round the garden that the dwarf Bottlebrush ( Callistemon Little John ) has started to flower.

There are were also numerous puddles of rainwater in different parts of the garden, however many have now disappeared. There is also quite a lot of tidying to be done following the high winds, especially pine needles. My next door neighbour had one of his ornamental trees blown down, but I think I have been lucky.

Anyway I wish all my readers a very Happy Christmas and hope you continue to follow the happenings here in Portugal.

Algarve Country Garden December 7th to 12th 2007

Weather has continued to be mainly sunny, although the temperatures are dropping at night. Sunday 9th. was cloudy with some drizzle, however since then the sun has been shining. I had an email from a friend in Canada, and whilst we we having temperatures of 20 degrees, they were having temperatures of minus 20 degrees, with 4 feet of snow. You see the Algarve does have it's benefits. Anyway average day-time temperatures here have been 18 degrees, and average night-time temperatures 10 degrees.

No unusual birds in the garden this week, just azure wing magpies, hoopoos, robin,blackbird and a passing group of redstarts.

The cooler weather is starting to have effect however,with some plants starting to die off. The tops of the Japanese blood grass (Imperata.cylindrica "Rubra") have died back at last and I have started to cut them down. Also the Angels hair (Stipa.tenuissima ) need thinning out. Both these grasses and the Festca .glauca have been very successful, the latter two reseeding themselves each year, and the former increasing by sending out underground runners.

The banana is also dying off, however it usually lasts until we get a frost. I took off the fruit recently, and will have to cut down the fruit bearing stalks. Because it is mainly ornamental I leave more stalks on the plants than I would if using them for fruit alone.

We still have quite a lot of colour in the garden, and things like Gazanias, amaze me with thier almost constant flowers. They also self seed and seem to cross pollinate, for I am always finding different variations.

Another plant which is prouving to be invaluable as ground cover is the Cotoneaster.horizontalis. It seems to be able to cope with the heat and what cold we have and is thriving.

Another success have been the box (buxus). I bought 4 small plants about 6 years ago, and have been training them into balls. although they are slow growing I am very pleased with their progress.

When I was at the top of the garden this morning I noticed that the Prickly Pear (Opuntia.robusta ) had a couple of flowers on it. They are at least a month early, along with many other plants.

Another success have been my Bay ( Laurus.noblis ) hedges. The hedges are all from cuttings which I took from the Bay balls, mentioned in a previous post.

I have two ornamental pools and a spring with a small rill in the back garden. They have quite a lot of fish in them, however some time ago they were discovered by a Heron, so I have to have them netted. They do however attract all kinds of wildlife and insects to the garden.

Finally this week a number of roses continue to produce flowers. The one featured is a Tom Robinson rose. Tom used to be my neighbour, and gave me many of his roses. It sits not far from our back door and is called Woodlands Lady.

Algarve Country Garden 30th November to 6th December 2007

The good weather continues. The average night-time temperature has been 10 degrees, the lowest temperature being 7 degrees, and the average day-time temperature has been 18 degrees, the highest temperature being 20 degrees. There has been no rain, however we have had very heavy dews each night, so most plants are still thriving. Most of the week we have had full sun, however it has clouded over today (Thursday).

Things are starting to change in the garden, however there is still quite a lot of colour. Plants like the Cape Honeysuckle ( Tecomaria capensis ) are still in bloom, their scarlet flowers standing out even on dull and cloudy days. The large Umbrella Pine ( Pinus pinea ) is renewing its needles and provides ample shade which enables many plants to thrive during the hot summers which we have.
Elsewhere in the garden Cannas, roses and even Cosmos, continue to add their colours to the garden.

Near the ornamental ponds the Teucrium friticans is now in full flower. The pale blue flowers attract bees which are still very active within the garden once the sun gets up. In late spring and summer red and purple Verbena climb through it's foliage adding to the charm of the bed.

In another bed Ophiopogen planiscapus Nigrescens spread quite happily. My son brought me one plant from England a few years ago and they have multiplied well. They seem to be equally happy in our varied temperatures, as in England. I have found that they go well with plants such as Senecio cineraria whos silver foliage really compliment the almost black colour of the Ophiopogen.

All the images in this weeks blog were taken this afternoon in cloudy conditions.

Algarve Country Garden November 15th to 29th 2007

We have been back to England for the past week, so I cannot report on garden temperatures, but my neighbour tells me that we have had a couple of cold nights when the temperature was down to zero, and that we also had some heavy overnight rain on a couple of occasions. The maximum temperature yesterday was 15 degrees and the overnight temperature 10 degrees. Today the sun is shining again out of a clear blue sky.

The garden still looks well and still has plenty of colour in it. A number of Aloe arborescens are in flower, their tall red flower spikes rising above other plants. The Clementines are starting to ripen, and should be ready by Christmas as usual. They fruit every other year and we will probably have two or three hundred fruits this year. the Lavender (lavendula) continues to flower and provides wonderful scent in the garden. Alyssum have also seeded as usual in the brita (gravel), which is a wonderful medium for seeds. Lobelia will also appear soon, although we still have one or two in flower. Another plant which seems to flower all year round is the Carnation (Dianthus).

The Russelia and New Guinea Impatiens continue to thrive in pots in front of the patio along with Petunias and Pansies.

When we came to the house there was an Umbrella plant (Schefflera) on the patio in a pot. It was about four or five feet high and after about 6 months we decided to plant it out into the garden. It is now about 25 feet high and is still growing.

Algarve Country Garden November 20th. Sparmannia 2007

I couldn't seem to get a final picture into this weeks post so I have posted it separately

Algarve Country Garden November 15th to 20th.2007

The rains have arrived. 2.5 inches between 6 o'clock on Monday evening and 12 midday Tuesday, with thunder and lightning. The wind is from the south west and it looks as though the rain may continue all day.

The average night-time temperature has been 12 degrees ( 15 degrees) Monday evening, and the average day-time temperature has been 18.5 degrees.

We did some planting yesterday morning, in anticipation of the rain, and we have turned off the irrigation at last.

Some of the trees have now lost their leaves, including the Almond ( Prunus dulcis ) and the black Fig ( Ficus carica).

Whilst trimming the old flowers off one of my Yucca plants I discovered a large seed pod, 3 inches long by 2 inches wide. It is the first time I have ever had such a pod, as I usually get new plants by cutting them off the old ones. I have posted a picture of it in this blog.

The Ceonothus continues to flower more and more,( see posts 23rd Oct and 1st.Nov ) whilst its sister plant has no flowers yet, which is as it should be. Notice the difference in the photographs when the sun isn't shining.

I also have two wonderful Bay ( Laurus nobilis ) balls next to the pool. They were two small bushes in a field when we first came here and are still in the same place. I have also got a hedge from cuttings taken from them. We still have plenty of colour in the garden and no doubt, following this rain this will increase by next week. The rose I showed you last week continues to produce more and more flowers, and I only wish I could send you all it's scent which is fantastic.

I also include this week a picture of one of the Sparmania, which seem to grow like weeds here. I have seen them in garden centres in England. They are a beautiful architectural plant with large heart shaped furry leaves and pretty white and gold flowers which the bees seem to love. They don't have any scent however. If you grow them in England you will need to take them in in winter as they are tender plants.

Algarve Country Garden November 8th. to 14th 2007

Still no rain, full sun again today ( Wednesday ), although the wind did get up in the evening and it felt quite cool later in the afternoon. It has been another very pleasant week, although we did have some cloud on Saturday and Sunday. The average night- time temperature has been 12.5 degrees, and the average day-time temperature 21 degrees, but on two days it reached 23 degrees. The downside of this is that I am still having to irrigate to keep everything going.

The Waxbills which I spoke about last week are still here, and yesterday there were 5 Thrushes on the lawn first thing. I have also seen my first Greenfinches , and the Hoopoo continues to visit us. There are lots of seeds on the grasses and other plants, and having the ornamental pools attracts the birds as well.

There is still a lot of colour in the garden. One of the roses is flowering again for the umpteenth time ( I don't know its variety, I bought it at a car boot 5 years ago ) but it has beautiful red flowers and a wonderful scent. Some of the Canna's are still flowering, and the Day Lilies are in full bloom again. The garden also has quite a few architectural plants in it, including Yucca (aloifolia Variegata ) New Zealand Flax (Phormium) , Chusan Palm ( Trachycarpus fortunei ) , and a line of Agave americana + veriegata along the front wall of the garden. There is also a fern
above one of the pools which stands in full sun all year round. I don't know what variety it is, but it amazes me the way it survives. Many of these plants are grown in England and can be used in English gardens.

Algarve Country Garden November 1st. to 7th.2007

November weather continues where October left off. The first seven days have all been sunny although the temperatures are starting to ease off. The average night temperature has been 10.5 degrees and the average day temperature has been 21 degrees, although the last two nights have both been 9 degrees. It is still necessary to irrigate, although not as often, and the majority of plants are loving it. The Cosmos is just about finished, and I have been collecting seeds for next year, although I am sure they will self seed. The Gazanias continue to flower and if I keep dead heading I am sure they will continue.

The garden continues to be visited by many birds, including the first Mistlethrush, which is at least a month early. Another first this year was a flock of about 8 Waxbills, which were pecking about on the front lawn, I was quite excited when I saw them. We also have daily visits by Hoopoo, Azure Wing Magpies, Blackbirds, Robins, Goldfinches, Blackcaps and many others.

We can grow many plants which are grown in English gardens including the Photinia x fraseri Red Robin which seems to be able to survive in most climates, and the Skimmia Japonica which grows very quickly here.

We are still getting Strawberries, not many, but there are still new flowers, so we are hopeful that they will last a bit longer. I will also have to take the Bananas off the tree soon, as they are not growing any bigger.

Some other plants of interest. The Pepper tree ( Schinus.molle ) continues to grow and provide wonderful shade and the Cycas revoluta which was given to us by our neighbours as a Christmas gift seven or eight years ago continues to thrive and grow slowly.

Just a final point. The photographs included in the articles are all taken during the week in which the articles are produced.

Algarve Country Garden October 24th to 31st. 2007

October has continued to be a wonderful month. On the night of 23rd. however, we had rain and thunder and lightening. It also continued to rain during the morning of 24th. , but had cleared by lunchtime. For the remainder of the month we had full sun every day. The average daytime temperature from 24th to 31st. has been 20 degrees, and the average overnight temperature has been 14 degrees, the lowest actual overnight temperature was 10 degrees.

The garden continues to look well, the plants are obviously enjoying the slightly cooler days, and we are getting dew overnight, although I am having to water. Roses continue to flower ( some seem to be almost everlasting). The Ceanothus has even more flowers on it, the Rosemary ( Rosmarinus officinalis, prostrate) is in full flower and covered in bees, and the Salvia farinacea is also in full flower.

Plants which may be grown as pot plants in England such as the Cigar Plant ( Cuphea.ignea )
flourish outside here and readily seed themselves. I also planted an Elephants ear plant ( Colocasia.esailenta ) in my front garden in the shade of my old Carob tree (Ceratonia), which is growing very well.

I can also report that the Bird of Paradise ( Strelitzia reginae ) is now flowering and will continue for some time.