The Green Door - Page 23 of 25

Apr 152014 0 Responses

Thyssen to Tulips

Today was quite a mixture. First up – Sandemans Free Tour of Madrid which I can highly recommend. 3 hours of history which gave us a very basic grounding – basic because I can remember only so much! After 5 kings called Philip and two called Charles I lost the plot.

After a quick refreshment Phil and I chose to try the Thyssen Museum of Art where I again managed to soak up only so many Rubens and Goya, Philistines that we are.

Luckily for us the Madrid Botanical gardens were right next door and oh so much more familiar. We are here just at the right time. The first of the Old Roses are only just opening. The tulips (Attila) are just finishing, the peonies are just starting as are the first of the Savias.

If you want a display of Tulips like this in October – NOW is the time to plant!

Apr 152014 1 Response

Zurich to Madrid

I’m writing this whilst in the air over Geneva. It’s been over a decade since I’ve been to Europe and it was a surprise to see the trees partially clothed with leaves and the golden fields of Rape.

It’s a long time since I’ve completely changed seasons. I don’t actually think of the seasons when we visit Asia – it’s permanently green and lush. Australia – well, if you’re lucky it’s not grey or brown and when you go north it’s not a change of season either as it always looks like that.

A scene from Singapore

Today we visited The Gardens On The Bay which had been highly recommended to us by like-minded friends who had been pretty amazed.

The gardens are only five years old and have two Domes – one The Cloud Forest and the other The Flower Dome,

The Flower Dome was full of different styled gardens from around the world with the most impressive being the one containing huge gnarled olive trees. They were something like you would see at the Chelsea Flower Show.

The Cloud Forest was incredible with an enormous, absolutely enormous man-made mountain in the middle whose structure was completely covered by Bromeliads, ferns, orchids, Vireya Rhododendrons and an array of exotica. It was simply incredible. The range of plants, the lush foliage and the colour was pretty impressive and mind blowing. There was a walk way that began half way up and enabled you to get right up to the plants as you went higher and higher. We were very impressed.

If you’ve been to Gardens on the Bay share your impressions with us.

Apr 072014 0 Responses

The rain in Spain appears to be on the HAVELOCK PLAIN

Well what a great rain, long and slow, perfect for softening the ground and every bit is seeping in.

The only downside is the effect it’s having on my strawberries and the figs – yikes – I should have put a preventive fungicide spray on a few days ago. Oh well, there’s nothing like hindsight. I was so busy ensuring that the weeds were sprayed and the insects were dealt with that I forgot about the DISEASE that might come.

As as soon as the drizzle is finished I’ll be out there to pull off the worst of them to hopefully stop the spread. It’s too late to stop it with a spray. Drat.

How have your berries and fruits been this summer?