Wonderful to see your garden at last. Your roses are gorgeous, especially Etoile de Lyon and Archduke Joseph up among the persimmons (2 of my favourites) but I lost my heart to the shade garden, first with the lilac and peonies and then the foxgloves. Is that a white or pink wisteria? I must admit I'm trying to remove mine as it tried to eat the house. PLEASE keep the photos coming. Melodye

Hallelujah! At last! I just love the wild garden. I like this boundary Med / Central European climate of yours. It allows one to grow a fine mix of all but the tenderest of plants. We get this sort of climate up in the hills northwest here and it's always refreshing when I visit those places spring to fall.

I echo the above joy at seeing your wonderful garden! This will be such a lovely addition to your wonderful posts. I enjoy them so much and the pictures are splendid. You are farther along in this process and it gives me such hope. I have some of your plants and more are coming. To die for!

P.S. Thanks to all of you--Tricia, Ingrid, Nik, Jackie--who patiently coached me in how to post photos. Also a word of thanks to Houzz, who have made it easy enough to upload photos that I have done so. Melissa

By the way, Ingrid, your photos are still a lot better than mine.

Thankyou Melissa. What a joy to see the romantic place in which you are creating such a joyous garden.

Trish

You've created a beautiful garden! thanks for the pictures

Beautiful. Etoile de Lyon photo incredible.

I love this! So natural. It is a garden I would love to wander through!

Such exuberant growth and splendid vistas. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderfully "wild" gardens. I love 'em!

Kate

Just remember, Melissa, practice makes perfect, and I've taken a zillion pictures, but we're all enjoying your photos. Seeing such a verdant landscape is really a treat. The spring pictures with blooming roses, ceanothus and other plants are really wonderful. I fell in love with your Etoile de Lyon. I don't even like red roses but your Sanguinea is wonderful. I love seeing so much land without a house in sight.

Melissa, it's all so beautiful! Love the natural look.

Such a beautiful place you have. So nice to see blooming roses and wisteria when it is cold and grey here. I love the areas you have in your garden. Keep us updated as things continue and bloom. Thank you Melissa! I hate Bermuda grass with a passion, we have not bought certain houses because they had Bermuda grass. Luckily we are now free from it!

Lovely to see the results of all of your hard work - changing a steep almost barren place into a garden - remarkable achievement. I love that in some places you planted stuff, and then gave up when the plants appeared to have died, and then a few years later it turned out that there were survivors who were thriving in those places. That is so fun. About 20 years ago (when I truly had NO CLUE what I was doing), I purchased one of those "instant garden" collections of plants and stuck them in the ground all around our little side garden. Total, absolute failure, of course. Then about 6 years ago I noticed strappy large leaves coming up next to the garden bench. Could not imagine what it was, but not a weed, so I left it. In a few weeks it started to bloom - it was a large day lily. I could not imagine where it had come from, but I finally had a vague memory that it was one of the plants I had put in 14 years before! Plants are certainly weird.

So, now that you have figured out how to post pictures, you can illustrate some of your lovely writings about your garden - I can't wait.

Jackie

What a treat! From your previous descriptions, some places seemed a bit familiar. Thank you for the tour.

Thank you for the free trip to Italy!

This is a little like seeing someone make a movie from a book I like. I'm glad the photos "live up to" the lovely word pictures you've used to illustrate your garden without photos.

I'm glad you are still supplying your amazing descriptions, so that the photos supplement- rather than replace- the words.

Many thanks,

Virginia

I'm glad folks are enjoying the photos. I like knowing how to post pictures; it's convenient! Nik, you're right, and I love the opportunities offered by our climate too, I particularly love the shade garden, and the woods below it are a favorite place of mine, especially in summer.

Melodye, the wisteria is an odd grayish color, I suppose a very pale lavender. I bought the plants when they weren't in flower, and was dismayed when they bloomed. Fortunately the common lilac around the corner of the house saved the day. They bloom at the same time and its deeper color harmonizes with the wisteria and enriches it. In my native Florida no one would dream of planting a wisteria where it could get at a house. I suppose that here the long cool season, plus in our case lack of summer water and fertilizer, help keep our two plants in bounds. We do whack them off downspouts and gas tubes periodically.

Sheila, the world needs more gardens. Good luck with yours!

Anne, we have patches of Bermuda grass throughout the garden; it's annoying but not quite the pest U.S. gardeners report. Basically we have annual grass whose season of growth is fall through spring, then the Bermuda grass takes over and grows during the summer. The meager water available then helps contain it. Experience has taught me that diligent weeding in early fall can push it back to its spring dimensions; also, that some plants are dense enough to shade it out, including rosemary as a rule and Salvia greggii, and of course it doesn't flourish in the shade of established shrubs. Years of weeding have made me somewhat acquainted with the various native grasses that grow in the garden, though I mostly don't know their names.

P.S. Cross post. Virginia, you're welcome, and I'm always glad to meet someone who believes in the power of words.

Wisterias can grow huge in my climate (although not as huge as in Florida, I suppose, where they get to grow for far longer and get lots of water). Still, they become things to be reckoned with (and so are the bees they attract when in bloom..) so planting one of these requires good planning and 'infrastructure'.... They can become chlorotic in calcareous soil btw, which is the reason I haven't planted one. What is a 'gas tube' in this context?

Bermuda grass will take over the world... Apart from the garden it has colonized every pot I have..

150 years old flowering wisterias in Japan

Melissa, what a treat to see your garden at last! Thank you.

Lovely, makes me long for warmer days already again.

Melissa, there are some gorgeous antique camellias that hail from Northern Italy; do you happen to grow any of them? If I'm not mistaken, there's an heirloom camellia event held in the Lago Maggiore area annually or perhaps twice a year? The photos I've seen make me swoon. Sadly, most of those old European camellias aren't available in the U.S. (or if they are, there's no HMF for camellias to help me locate them).

If you get tired of the privet (and I kinda recall that you were thinking of- ahem!- branching out and looking for some other shrubs)), some camellias might provide some interest? They are rather slow-growing, but I know your garden isn't exactly an instant gratification project.

Your comment about the garden usually being dreary by this time of year made me wonder if "the rose of winter" might be a possibility where you are? Just in case, here's a link with lots of cool camellia photos...

Virginia

What lovely landscape you have and have created. Love to woller around in your beautiful piece of heaven. Judy

Virginia, our conditions are unsuited to camellias. They hate our dense clay and summer drought. I would definitely grow them if I could, along with fragrant deciduous azaleas, blueberries, and a range of magnolias: all the acidophile plants that don't do here (also almost everything with vivid fall color). My impression is that our ph is around neutral, so that's not the problem, but rather soil texture and rainfall patterns.

The dreariness of fall and winter has a lot to do with our normal weather that time of year, days and weeks of sunless gray. As for things I can do something about, such as plant selection and garden design, up to now the garden has suffered from lack of structure, mass and volume, not because I don't recognize their importance, but because the trees and shrubs have needed time to grow. Once the flowers of summer were all gone the garden looked insignificant. With the woody plants maturing now this is less of a problem. Hedges of leafless shrubs have their winter appeal; so do evergreen shrubs, though it's surprising how many of them need shade or acid soil. This difficulty is why I'm so fond of the semi-evergreen privet. As the shrubs get established they create an environment in which herbaceous plants can grow, so that in time I'll be able to add plants like hellebores, cyclamen, and sweet violets that add winter interest. I plant winter-flowering shrubs like Jasminum nudiflorum, Lonicera fragrantissima, and Chimonanthus praecox as well.

Wow, Nik, that's some wisteria. It does take management--pruning our two plants annually is a job--but I think wisteria is beautiful twelve months a year and it will be in every garden I ever grow. "Gas tubes" are the tubes fixed to the exterior of our house that carry the LP gas from the tank buried in our yard into the house. Wisteria likes to twine around them, which obviously we can't allow.

Again, I'm glad people are enjoying the photo tour.

Melissa, it is quite easy to grow a winter magnolia or two, especially the smaller hybrids, since they are slow growers and their root system is quite superficial and all that it is required is ammending (yes the bad word..) the soil with lots of organic matter to about 3-4 sq.m and 30 cm depth and add compost around them every year. I'm speaking from experience in my horrible alkaline soil. Some summer watering may be required though, but they don't really require the constant humidity camelias and the like do. I have found they are quite tough plants.

It is so good to see your garden at last. I love your Rosa sanguinea, blooming so freely in December. Your palms look good. I have a tiny Chamerops humilis, but mine is var. cerifera, the blue, silver one.

Daisy

I wonder if you can get Phoenix theophrasti in commerce. I doubt it though. This is a Southern Crete native. The red palm weavil has decimated most of the palms in mainland Greece. What a pity. Another nasty side-effect of the 2004 Olympics...

Lovely, Melissa.

Camellias do well in amended clay, but they do need good drainage. Azaleas generally want acidic soil, but camellias don't mind neutral conditions.

Camellias in their native habitats regularly go half the year with no rainfall, but they have taproots (which camellias grown from cuttings don't have), and their normal drought period is in the winter. Even camellias with no taproot are pretty drought-tolerant once established, but they are slow to establish (c.3-5 years), and will bloom best with occasional deep watering in hot, droughty conditions. Not your thing, I know!

If you could find (or grow) seedlings with taproots, it might work, but you'd have to be pretty curious and very patient to find out! There might be camellia species that would like your conditions, but I'm only familiar with the commonly grown japonicas, sasanquas and hybrids...

Oh, well. What trees and shrubs are native to your area?

Virginia

PS I have to agree with Daisy that your 'Sanguinea' is a thing of beauty.

Bellisimo (or should I have an a on the end?) Mi piace, Mi piace! I have a screen saver picture at work of a similar looking valley which I use to release the tension of the day. Grazie for showing us your beautiful garden. It is very soothing to the soul.

Virginia, drainage is one of my big problems: I've lost some beautiful Teas to root rot. Still mourning 'Anna Jung'. I've tried a camelia or two in the ground, but they're just not suited here no matter how much I amend. The rainfall distribution is part of the problem, as winter is our rainy season and summer is dry, the Mediterranean pattern. You've told me some things about camelias I didn't know, thanks for the info. I know there are places in Italy where they're magnificent, but those are pockets where conditions are suitable, I believe, and not very common.

Our local woods, in our arid gray clay (there are areas locally where the still-clay soil is much better) are deciduous oak, flowering ash, and field maple, with willows and poplars down in the drainage bottoms, and colonies of black hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) and the hated Ulmus minor scattered here and there. Elderberry, hawthorn, Cornus sanguinea, hazelnut, blackthorn, honeysuckle, wild clematis, brambles, Viburnum lantana, Euonymus europeus, fly honeysuckle, Cornus mas. The number of native woody species is not that large. It's like anywhere else: the limitations of our growing conditions determine the character of our garden, making it different from all other gardens. As I said, I can't grow azaleas, but then the few daphnes I've been able to lay my hands on have done fine. Not everyone can grow daphnes. I've never had any luck with hollies, and have found osmanthus iffy, but sarcococcas are happy here. This is great country for the temperate climate fruit trees and for the European once-blooming old roses, for lilacs, mock orange, honeysuckle. I think what we can grow much of it you would also find in the milder parts of England, mixed with a good population of Mediterranean climate plants.

Nik, I don't consider all magnolias impossible here, but their placement is very difficult. With us it's either bake, or drown in the low spots, and we must choose between woods, with their web of roots, rocks, and shade, and open fields of pure gray clay, blasted by sun and wind. None of the in-between, moderate conditions I believe they like. The amendment you're talking about is pretty formidable, too. People grow M. soulangeana locally and I've seen M. denudata as well, though those were down in the valley bottoms. We have a magnolia of our own. I suspect that what the nurseryman got for us wasn't what I asked for and it will turn out to be a Soulangeana, but it has been growing satisfactorily for two or three years, and should bloom soon. What I would like would be a M. x loebneri: they're supposed to be easy, beautiful, fragrant, and able to grow in clay. I have a spot in mind. If I had the conditions for them I would have a garden full of deciduous magnolias. Full. I think they're the most beautiful flowering trees there are.

P.S. Another cross post. Grazie a te, mustbenuts! In italiano un "ornamental garden" si chiama "giardino" ("vegetable garden" invece è "orto"), quindi "bellissimo" è corretto. Sono contenta che ti sia piaciuto. Anche per me è un posto molto tranquilizzante.

Amending a 4sqm by 30cm area is not formidable if you have access to a small gas powered rotary tiller and an area free of brambles and large rocks. It would take about 15 mins. Just spread the amendments on the ground and push the tiller around to do its job a couple of times. If you have clay you just need to do it at the right time, when it is somewhat damp but not soggy. Never till soggy clay.

I too love winter magnolias but in my climate their flowering season is extremely short while their looking-like-shambles season (late summer and fall) is very prolonged. Similar to once blooming european OGRs really...

Melissa, what a joy it is to see these photos at last! I am so very pleased to see your progress in the past years. It brings back such wonderful memories of your garden, of Octavio and your daughter, and of your generous hospitality. My memories of days spent wandering through your garden listening to your plants, and exploring the countryside around you, all linger fondly in my memory, and in Tom's as well.

Melissa, I'm sorry that drainage is so poor there... I am also mourning an 'Anna Jung' that I thought I had snagged on sale, but somehow turned into another rose before my order was complete. One of these days, though...

Gardening in your conditions sounds like it's often a herculean task, which makes your achievements even more remarkable. We have good drainage here, with lots of oaks providing valuable leaf litter. We have plenty of evergreen azaleas here that predate me, and I do want to gradually replace some with a few of the deciduous azaleas that are native to this area. Daphnes grow well here, also (raising that eternal question, "what do Daphnes want?"), and of course, camellias love our conditions and are pretty much care-free (though I do run checks for scale every so often).

I have mostly dappled shade; very little full sun, and very little dense shade, and I probably should have my head examined for trying to grow roses here, but my young plants in pots are growing well, with surprisingly few exceptions, and I do not expect them to be "bloom machines". Occasional flowers are anticipated and enjoyed, and the frequent flowerers (so far, mostly Polyanthas and Noisettes) are valued. I think the Chinas and Teas will bloom more with maturity, but only time will tell.

I hope you can run down a clay-tolerant Magnolia soon.

Virginia

Your gardens are wonderful. What a beautiful place to go for a stroll. I love it, thanks for sharing.

Valerie

Virginia, your conditions sound marvelous, with the sole exception of not quite enough sun for roses. (Ahem. Pictures?) I strongly believe in the value of mature, long lived, deep rooted trees in a garden; in a word, oaks. And, writing as a native of north Florida, it sounds homey. Our conditions are in many ways wonderful as well, but we have this battle to fight of growing trees and developing the soil. Steady effort can perform miracles but there's the question of time. The magnolias for clay are out there--I believe Soulangeana is one--but I may have to order from the Netherlands to get a M. x loebneri. They're not rare but there are a lot of not unusual plants I don't find in Italy, daphnes among them.

Nik, the problem with heavy machines is that, having gotten them down, we then have to get them back up again. There's a reason we don't own a chipper, for example. In the woods below the shade garden we don't use any tool we can't carry in our hands. As for the big garden, which is also plenty steep, I may be wrong but I just don't think it's ready for magnolias. You've had the experience of amending and planting and then the plant just died? I think that's what would happen. The soil biology needs to transform.

I don't agree with you about the once-blooming roses looking shabby; it may be because our climates are different, or I'm just good at selective looking. I've never seen the point in going out in the garden in blazing weather anyway. But some of the once-blooming roses have respectable foliage, and some color nicely in autumn, too. I like them as shrubs, not just for their flowers.

Paula, that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me in quite a while: thanks! I'm glad you and Tom have good memories of your visit. Tell him I said hello.

My pleasure, Valerie.

There exist small cheap two-stroke narrow rotary tillers that can be carried up and down a hill by a reasonably strong person on the shoulder. They will take more effort and time to do the job but it will still be much less effort than doing it by hand. There are also even lighter ones which work as an attachment to brush cutters. If one needs to work just the top 12" of soil there are plenty of light solutions.

Well...."reasonably strong". DH is a marvel for his age, but he's 80 years old and a little guy. I'm 58 and skinny, with impaired knees. No muscle men here, unfortunately. Just getting myself up and down our slopes is already enough of a challenge for me. Another consideration is that neither of us is very good with machines, working on them I mean. They get expensive if you have to pay someone to do repairs and maintenance. I realize there are other options, but so far the lowest-tech approach, in our case, still seems the best.