Issue No.
13380
GREECE may well be in financial trouble, but its abundant flora, especially at this time of the year, reminds us of its natural riches.
While wild Greek plants have been popular in recreations of Mediterranean gardens in northern Europe for several decades now, here in Greece natives were largely dismissed as being agria, or wild, with no place in a garden. As a result, many gardeners in Greece ask why put something in your garden that grows in abundance on the neighbouring hillside.
The emphasis has been more on using exotic plants, often subtropical, and many with significant water needs. Probably such choices started out as a status symbol and then simply became habit.
The problem nowadays is that as gardens become more popular, the amount of water needed to keep them thriving increases proportionately. While some people turn to technology to temporarily solve the problem (eg deeper bore holes, desalination plants), a more natural solution is to try to use less water.
Strategies
Various techniques can be employed - watering at night or early in the morning, fitting good-quality drip irrigation, mulching, improving the soil - all these help to use water more efficiently and effectively.
However, selecting plants that don’t need much water to survive is the best way of reducing water consumption.
Enter native plants. Many gardeners are increasingly interested in the trees, shrubs and perennials that are growing on the hillsides around us precisely because they are living out there without summer water.
It occurs to me that this interest is part of trend that in a sense has gone full circle. People once lived among the native flora and even if they could have afforded the time to do so, they had no reason to build an ornamental garden because nature was doing it for them.
Then, as rural areas depopulated and urbanisation took hold from the 1950s, many people found themselves living in apartments where they could only dream of a garden - much of the working population of Athens and Thessaloniki find themselves in that category today. Almost everyone in that situation craves green and balconies are often crammed with pots and containers to compensate for the lack of it.
Image problem
Suburban expansion followed rapidly on the heels of urbanisation and more space meant the lucky ones could make the gardens they dreamed of. But these were usually full of plants that were quite different to the Greek landscape - natives were still associated with humble rural origins, even poverty.
However, the past two decades offer several indications that the circle is beginning to close. There is growing appreciation of the beauty of native plants for their own sake. They remind people of their childhood in Greece - the scents and aromas resonate of a less stressed era. And as people become more environmentally aware, they value natives as water-savers, as well as their relatively low maintenance demands - plus freedom from pests and diseases often prevalent in imports.
If it’s drought-tolerant exotica you’re looking for, natives mix well with plants from other Mediterranean climate zones, as well as succulents from arid areas, including South Africa, southwestern Australia, California and Chile, which all have a similar climate to the Mediterranean basin.
And many plants from these places are already in cultivation here. They are particularly useful because they often flower in summer when many Greek natives do not.
Where the wild flowers are
From now until the end of May is the time to enjoy peak wild flowering in Greece - take the chance to enjoy and gain inspiration. If you have an afternoon to spare, catch Cape Sounio National Park while it still looks fresh - those that look closely will be rewarded with yellow-bee orchids. Within Athens, Lykavittos offers a window on the flowering of the wider Greek countryside.
Kaisariani Monastery, just a short drive from the city centre, is open every day, except Mondays, from 9am to 3pm. There is small entrance fee. The monastery is surrounded by forest managed by Filodassiki (Friends of the Trees). There is a botanical garden which can be visited by appointment. Call 210-723-1769 for further information. A small native plant nursery is open 8.30am-1.30pm, Monday-Friday.
Topical tips
Protect plants
WINTER temperatures have continued to veer from one extreme to the other. Just two weeks after temperatures hovered around 0C, about 20 degrees cooler than current daytime temperatures, Attica was obscured by a Saharan dust storm. Sudden dips in temperature are the most threatening for vulnerable plants so make sure you protect anything tender, especially young seedlings when night-time temperatures are expected to drop low - it’s quite easy to get caught out in March.
Water potted plants
March often brings drying winds and sunny days interspersed with rain - many plants in pots will be coming into growth, so keep an eye on their water needs.
Sow seed
Cultivating seeds, those tiny carriers of complex information and energy storage, is a chance to recapture a child’s wonderment as growth unfurls. There’s something very satisfying in nurturing plants, perhaps especially, so when you’re growing edibles, as indirectly you’re also nurturing yourself. Sowing seeds is also an economic way to stock a garden.
If you’ve ever established a garden from scratch, you’ll know of that special moment when plants begin to seed themselves - you begin to feel that nature is adding padding to the bare bones you’ve laid out.
And nature knows what it’s doing, as anyone who has tried to establish seed in a stone wall will bear witness. Plants such as valerian (Centranthus ruber) and capers will merrily seed themselves into cracks and crevices by their own devices, but as soon as a human intervenes, the results are invariably poor.
It’s very difficult to imitate exactly the correct combination of conditions required for germination in some cases and a stone wall is one of them. The seed simply needs to find its own way. You are probably better off bringing seedlings on and planting them out when they are strong enough to withstand the inhospitable conditions.
It’s a fine line to tread, as pampered plants won’t thrive if transplanted into a hostile situation, so seedlings need to be prepared for what lies ahead with some tough love. But if you can get just one parent going, then your own self-seeding colony can begin.
Wise gardeners never sow seed thickly as this only encourages damping-off disease. Try to sow only what you need. It’s never a pleasure throwing seedlings away. Or give surplus to friends.
Traditional vegetables
To obtain traditional vegetables, contact Peliti, a non-governmental organisation which aims to preserve and conserve traditional and rare crop varieties. They collect, conserve and distribute seed. To date they have safeguarded 1,500 traditional varieties of vegetable and cereal seeds.
April 7 is Peliti’s Local Varieties Day, when young seedlings grown by volunteers are distributed to farmers each year.
For more information see www.peliti.gr. The site is in both English and Greek and it’s worth taking a look especially for the sowing calendar for vegetables. Click on “genetic stuff”. However, bear in mind that sowing times can vary according to where you are in Greece.
- Contact: Panagiotis Sainatoudis, Peliti, Paranesti 66035, Greece. peliti@peliti.gr . For information in English, contact Vassilis gisakis@peliti.gr
Flowering now
In the wing
Anemone blanda
NATIVE to the eastern Mediterranean, with a range extending from Albania and Greece to Lebanon, Anemone blanda can be found growing in rocky places or scrub up to an altitude of about 2,000m. Anemone blanda is rather shy and retiring, waiting to be discovered in sheltered nooks and crannies, unlike its more widespread cousins, Anemone coronaria and Anemone pavonia, both of which are currently blooming in all shades of the rainbow, like sparkling gems scattered across the hillsides.
They generally flower between March and May, though I spotted the one photographed on Mt Pendeli just outside Athens on February 15. The flowers are usually white or dark-blue but pale-blue is also common, apparently especially in Turkey. Anemones are geophytes (ie they retreat underground during unfavourable conditions) and survive summer drought as rounded tubers, lying dormant until kinder conditions return.
Several cultivars of A blanda have been selected and are widely available in commercial production - but I have yet to source them in Greece. Avon Bulbs will have a variety available from September to November, ready for autumn planting (0044-1460-242177; www.avonbulbs.co.uk, Burnt House Farm, Mid Lambook, South Petherton, Somerset, TA13 5HE)
Their range includes alba (white), bridesmaid (large flowers of pure white), charmer (deep pink), pink star (large flowers, deep-pink), white splendour (very large and gleaming white, longlasting flowers), radar (bright magenta with a white eye) and blue (blue flowers).
Cultivation
Grow in sandy, humus-rich soil, preferably with well-rotted leaf mould. Sometimes nurseries stock leaf mould collected from beneath native shrubs, such as skinos or koumaria. Sold in 10- to 12-litre bags, it is perfect for this job.
Provide shade in spring and summer, and moisture when the plant is growing but never allow the soil to get really wet. Plant in early autumn, 2.5-4cm deep, and 15-20cm apart. Lay the tuber on its side if it is not clear from which side the roots grow. Best used in masses, Anemone blanda is among the best of the early-flowering plants for a woodland area, where they can be allowed to naturalise. Low-growing, they are lovely on a shady bank beneath high-crowned trees.
Q&A
I was recently reading one of your articles on phrygana. I attach a photo of a small shrub that I photographed at Sounio about 5-10m from the sea, but I am having trouble identifying it. I find it very interesting as it is obviously salt-tolerant and was one of the very few plants (if not the only) that was present right next to the rocks.
Pavlos Sotiriou
This is a Helichrysum species, commonly known as curry plant, most of which do extremely well in exposed coastal situations. I cannot be sure from the photograph which one it is, but from the situation you describe I’d put my money on Helichrysum italicum, subspecies microphyllum, a very aromatic subshrub that grows to 30cm tall and is often found on coastal rocks or cliffs.
We live close to Vamos in Crete, at approximately 300m above sea level.
We had a mild frost the other night but enough to seriously damage the leaves and flowers
of our poinsettia. What would be your advice for ongoing plant care ?
Pete and Jane Hockley
Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) have a difficult time recovering from cold damage (typically blackened flowers and leaves, as if scorched), but it is possible. With an overnight frost you have some chance of recovery. You don’t mention if your poinsettia was potted, or was an established plant in the ground. The latter would be hardier and have a better chance of shooting from the base.
If the stems are partially blackened but green at the base, I’d be tempted to cut back to the green and fertilise with all-purpose fertiliser once temperatures increase and the spring growth spurt begins. Protect from unexpected low night-time temperatures. Alternatively, wait for new growth and then cut back to that point - if it does not send out any new growth in spring, I’m afraid it will be one for the compost heap.
ATHENS NEWS 10/07/2009, page: 38-39
