Sunday 6 June 2021

Letting it happen

When we travelled out to Lazio last year we had an overnight at a green hospitality b&b between Lakes Como and Lugano just over the border from Switzerland.  The place was run ecologically, they grew food for their guests organically and reduced their impact on the earth, we loved it.  

Our host Samuel and his staff were charming, happy to chat about their ethos and show us round the beautiful grounds.  This is their natural swimming lake, the water cleaned through reed beds, no need for harsh chemicals and any leaves or debris simply fished out with a net.

I told Samuel I hadn’t seen my Italian garden for 8 months and was worried about how it would be when we arrived in high summer.  He smiled and said it would probably surprise me and have managed perfectly well without me.  He was quite right, hardly anything had died, we weren’t overrun with weeds and we soon caught up with our orchard planting to enjoy another summer of flowers fruit and vegetables.

I often think of this valuable advice, which was confirmed again last week.  We called at the local vineyard for 10 litres and while MrFF was inside I took a walk round the gardens.  The winery is a lovely old property with large porticos with lots of tubs of dark red roses in full bloom and a large table with many chairs for convivial long lunches.  The owners house nearby is very beautiful, white and modern with a glass balustraded balcony and large patio both dotted with big weathered pots of colourful annuals and geraniums.  I spotted in a gap in the terrace an enormous Amaryllis with at least 50 big blooms.  The mother of the family came out when she’d served MrFF and told me the plant was there when they arrived many years ago, a single bulb growing out of the concrete.  She said apart from giving it water now and then they ignored it.  I’ve seen amaryllis growing in waste land here or in pots so if I have one as a house plant afterwards I put the bulb into the ground.  Now have 3 in the border and I noticed recently that one plant has a large bud. I told the lady how excited I was about this single flower and she laughed when I said one day mine might be like hers. 

I’m thinking of writing a book about this laissez faire style of gardening, about sitting back and just letting the plants get on with it.  That’s it written really, nothing more to say.


8 comments:

  1. One thing we have discovered chez nous is that our approach to gardening has to be completely different to in the UK. We will have been away for ten months, the longest time ever, and fully expect there will be plants that have not survived, others that will have just done their own thing! We have to go with the flow, as fighting it is pointless!

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  2. I don't mess with my plants much, I don't dig the boarders, just add farmyard manure and a mulch, I don't suffer with too many weeds either, mine is a tiny garden and I do have loads of pots for bedding plants and things which don't do well in clay. Here in UK my unheated greenhouse is always full over winter.

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  3. I think many of the best most famous gardens follow that philosophy.

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  4. The more I weed, the more weeds I see so I think I need to be more accepting of weeds! Especially if they flower or fit in with the rest of the greenery!

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  5. Gardening does need to be less regimented and more relaxed! Let the plants tell us instead.

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  6. Oh I would love to stay in an eco-friendly place like that. It's something that has always interested me. And my friend gave me a beautiful amaryllis for my birthday but I thought it was an indoor plant. Either way I cut it back when it died off and it does seem to be coming back but I would LOVE to have it grow outside. Trouble is, I'd be afraid the cold would get it!

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  7. I grew up in Northern Illinois where daffodils and tulips do well in spring. Then married and moved to South Texas where they do not, but amaryllis do. One older lady of the community had them planted in the garden that surrounded her modest house. It was a sight to behold in spring. I'm hoping the ones I've planted outside here (Oklahoma) will take. At least they made it through the winter, although they don't look like they will bloom this spring. Enjoy your blooms!

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  8. My garden has had to fend for itself this year and is decidedly overgrown. Yet all the perennials pop up without me lifting a finger. Nature is amazing.

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