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| Roses |
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| Brazilian Jasmine |
Last November, I wrote a piece about the transformation of
the dusty concrete yard adjoining our island summer house in Karlovasi, Samos,
in the Greek Aegean. There were two aspects, the painted floor and the
surrounding selection of potted plants. My dear wife Betty, inspiration of many
of the designs, fell and broke her leg on Easter Sunday in the Courtyard and so
there has not been much painting progress – other than the elimination of the
Evil Eye, which dismally failed to protect her from wicked spirits!
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| Fuchsia |
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| Lavender |
But the Garden is blooming. May saw many plants burst into life
and our friend and neighbour Theofilaktos, creator of the Courtyard Garden, is
the driving force and is a tireless feeder, clipper, tenderer and waterer.
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| The ineffective Evil Eye |
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| Multi-talented Theofilaktos |
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| A Variety of Pansy |
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| Lilium |
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| More pansies in hanging baskets |
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| Salvia |
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| Dahlias |
We do not pretend that the Garden is intrinsically
remarkable – many of the flowers can be seen in English gardens – but our
pleasure is that something was created out of nothing and the generous Greek
climate allows most plants to grow easily and rapidly, displaying them at their
best.
Not only flowers are grown; there is a wide selection of
herbs including basil, thyme, Louisa, mint, oregano and parsley. On balconies
we now carry a kitchen garden too with lettuces, rocket, wild strawberries,
spring onions, cherry tomatoes, so many of our salads are home-grown and
seasoned.
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| Pink Geraniums |
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| Lemon Thyme |
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| Pennyroyal |
Colours and greenery are always a delight but added to that
is the distinctive aroma of many of the herbs, greatly enhanced by the warm sun
and the gentle breezes. Dr Bronowski called Samos his “Prospero’s Island” and
it is certainly a green jewel of the Aegean in my eyes too.
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| Red Geraniums |
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| Gladiolus |
SMD
2.06.2014
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