The
Mediterranean Garden Society

Events

Tuesday 16th January 2007 
Many members enjoyed Simon Rackham's most interesting talk at Sparoza on ‘Contemporary Mediterranean Landscape Design - Some Issues’. Of particular interest were his projects in Greece. Simon readily answered members' questions at the cheese and wine supper which followed. You can find out more about Simon's projects at www.simonrackham.com  

Wednesday 24th January 2007 
The garden at Sparoza was looking lovely on the morning of Peter Karadontis' most interesting presentation about compost. He is a real enthusiast on the subject of compost and everyone came away with a clearer idea after listening to his talk and viewing the video, the level of interest could be assessed by the number of questions which were asked.

Sunday 11th February 2007 
The rain was too much for all except half a dozen web-footed stalwarts who paddled up the path to the meeting at Barbara's house. The cups of tea were quickly replaced by a bottle of wine and a good time was had by all.

Saturday 24th February 2007
It was blowing a gale and was very cold for our visit to the Papanikolaou Nursery at Kato Souli but what a worthwhile visit for the score of members who turned out. Thanassis Papanikolaou gave us a talk on the different kinds of Jasmine and their suitability for different areas of Attika followed by a similar talk about Bougainvillea. He was bombarded by questions which he fielded with good humour and we left with a very good impression of the work of this enterprising nursery.

Saturday 17th March 2007 Plant and Seed Exchange 10.30 – 2.30
A beautiful spring morning greeted members and their friends who came to Sparoza for the exchange of plants and seeds. A most welcome invasion of members from Pilion was a special pleasure and the garden was full of spring colour despite the serious shortage of rain.

Friday - Sunday, 13th – 15th April 2007
Members from England and Spain joined the Greek Branch Spring visit to Porto Heli, which was a resounding success thanks to the splendid arrangements made by local members in the area. We met at the Agnati Restaurant with spectacular views down to Palea Epidavros and across the sea towards Athens, walked round the doline at Didyma with huge overhanging bushes of Capparis spinosa clinging to its walls and continued through Fourni to eat our picnic lunch at a little white church next to the sea before walking to the Franchthi Cave. This is one of the oldest inhabited caves in Greece dating back to 20,000 BC, a most atmospheric spot conjuring up thoughts about what life must have been like so many millennia ago. The walk to the cave was rich with wild flowers including Ruta graveolens (rue) and beautiful pink Cistus - but was it C. crispus, or C. albidus, or C. creticus? We must go back to check!

In Porto Heli we saw some wonderful gardens and breathtaking vistas of wild flowers in the surrounding countryside. We were too late to see tulips but found Gladiolus byzantinus and fields of Muscari comosum (tassel hyacinth). After visiting the ancient Acropolis of Halieis, we visited the old monastery of Ag. Dimitrios at Pelei, another atmospheric spot with Iris cretensis scattered everywhere.  Campanula andrewsii was clinging to the rocks in glorious profusion and Alyssum saxatile grew from cracks in the rocks, a wonderful rock garden.  Views down the valley and birds nesting in the cliffs nearby stay in the mind's eye. We left with the warmest impression of the wonderful hospitality of friends and members in the area.   

At the Franchthi Cave	White iris at their beautiful best
Campanula andrewsii	Cistus populifolius
Gynandriris sisyrinchium syn. Iris sisyrinchium	Libelloides-coccajus We found this beautiful creature at Halieis

Photographs by Linda Reynolds

Saturday 6th May
Andrew MacNab’s jungle made a very pleasant venue for our barbecue.  Acanthus mollis was in full bloom and there were plenty of trees to shade those who came along to this most enjoyable event. We were delighted to renew our acquaintance with Francois Travert - Francois was one of the first students from Blois hosted at Sparoza – and we bade goodbye to Eloyse Descurninges and Marie Gallienne, this year's happy students.

Sunday 8th May
Many members and friends enjoyed the spring meeting in Crete at which the speaker was Jennifer Gay, her infectious enthusiasm held the audience spellbound.

The Kifissia Flower Show was a non-event for the Greek Branch this year, however the beautiful 1 metre x 1.4 metre exhibition boards prepared by Truly Pavlidis were included in the Flower Show at Varkiza.

Friday 1st June
Our end of term supper was relaxing and sociable. The full moon rose in all its copper coloured glory, a lovely evening before the summer heat takes over and friends scatter to islands and cooler climes. 

Past events

Hydra in May
The Greek Branch had an early start for its day in Hydra, an island in the Saronic Gulf. Our tireless hostess, who had arranged our itinerary down to the finest detail, was much more practiced at negotiating the stepped streets than we were, but following her as our Pied Piper we saw courtyard gardens lovingly created to make the most of space available and incorporating wonderful views through windows and archways.

As we walked the cobbled streets it became obvious that literally anything that takes root, whether friend or foe, and no matter where it grows, is eagerly welcomed and looked after: succulents on a roof, capers on a wall, 'weeds' in corners - even a mirror propped behind to increase their impact - or was it a happy accident? Gardens, walls and doorways are beautified with interesting pieces of sculpture, ironwork, and... flotsam, as can be expected of Hydra's colony of artists.

Our group grew as friends joined in and opened yet more gardens for our delight. We learned a lot about Hydra's history and its famous families from the beautifully presented collection in the Historical Archives Museum of Hydra and the Monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin, which houses the island's Town Hall and, in the monastery museum, a stunning display of ecclesiastical artifacts and vestments.

MGS stall wins award
Kifissia's 52nd Flower Show opened at the end of April with a brilliant burst of fireworks. At the opening ceremony we were delighted to find that the Mediterranean Garden Society stall had been awarded a trophy by the Mayor of Kifissia, Mr Nikos Hiotakis; it depicts a charming silver wreath of pomegranates encircling the traditional horse-drawn cart for which Kifissia is famous.

The winning stall shared with the Goulandris Natural History Museum.
Photograph by Barbara Diamantides

Members of the Greek branch manned the stall for four days from 28th April to 1st May. The weather was disappointing, May Day was not being its usual sunny self, but nevertheless the Flower Show seemed to be the venue of choice for most Athenians. It was literally standing room only and crowds came to buy plants, watch the dancing, listen to the singers and, sadly, get soaked in the heavy afternoon rain. We received lots of enquiries at the Society's stand and it was fun to see people recognising the pomegranate, Punica granatum at our entrance and eyeing the distinctly non-mediterranean Bilbergia nutans. A fragrant basket of herbs caused a lot of interest (and wild guesses as to its contents) as did Sally's beautiful wild flower arrangement. This year we shared our table with the Goulandris Natural History Museum and their lovely posters and drawings were much admired. Our helpers did a wonderful job and deserve medals for sticking to their post in such inclement conditions.

The people of Athens are genuinely fond of plants, as a glance at any balcony verifies, and this year's Flower Show offered a lot more than potted plants. Nick Thymakis, the Show's Horticultural Consultant and MGS member, put together a programme of talks on different botanical subjects every day for the two weeks' of the show and it was heartening to see many people gathered for each presentation. The Show will close on 14th May, Mother's Day, with a Blood Donor's session at 10 a.m. - the Flower Show has indeed matured and the organisers are to be congratulated on the scope of this year's programme.

Kardamyli in April
Our spring event in the Mani was full of interest, we saw an amazing range of spring flowers which were at their peak. We enjoyed visiting interesting old churches in the area as well as the excellent new museum in the old part of Kardamyli. Fellow members in the area welcomed us to their gardens and we returned home resolving to do better with our own.

To see these and other photos from our visit click here.

February at Thorikos
Silver was Athens' source of wealth from the 6th Century BC and was mined by slaves near to present day Lavrion.

Some flowers were already displaying their colours in February when the Greek Branch visited the ancient silver mines and Mycenean tomb at Thorikos, with Marianne to tell us about this historic site. Muscari, Ornithogalum, Anemone pavonina, brilliant red A. coronaria, deep blue Anchusa arvensis, Arisarum vulgare and Aubrieta deltoidea were just making an appearance after the cold weather of January and early February. A hawk overhead noted his disapproval of our intrusion and tiny flickerings in the grass showed that lizards and grasshoppers appreciated the beautiful day as much as we did.

Photographs by Davina Michaelidou

Visit to Rhamnous
Sally led the search for spring flowers which had not been encouraged by the recent heavy rains, snowfalls and cold conditions. However we did come across wonderful scarlet anemones, globe hyacinths, anchusa, orchids, including Barlia robertiana and lots of edible asparagus...eagerly snapped up by the naturalists in the party. We repaired to a nearby taverna where the group which had not armed themselves with sandwiches made do with fresh squid and salad.
All text by Barbara Diamantides

Sally Razelou triumphantly finding wild asparagus amongst
the Pistacia terebinthus at Rhamnous in February.
Photograph by Barbara Diamantides