Getting there

The garden is hardly returned to glory but it is becoming acceptable under the circumstances, some colour, some new growth and a lot of bare earth. 

The pots I have salvaged have not a single flower but hopefully they’ll survive the winter and perform again next year.  The kumquat is leafless but new shoots are appearing, meantime I am glad to have so many pots of large spider plants to brighten up the terraces.

Happily I have discovered 3 agapanthus that had been buried quite deeply as the creatures flung soil about digging their massive holes in the borders. I am not blaming any animal in particular but I have picked up 12 porcupine quills whilst working.  They could have planted by those shifty badgers, who knows.

The strangest discovery I’ve made relates to my lemon tree that started producing fruit a couple of years ago.  I was checking it and discovered not only new small lemons but small oranges too, I assume oranges they could I guess be grapefruit.  Definitely just one tree that I bought at least 15 years ago when it was small, labelled lemon.  It must have been grafted, I cannot wait to see what develops .

Meantime the lower lawn has been turned into a honeycomb of molehills, cracks and raised turf.  It looks like we've had a mini earthquake or some giant creature burrowing underneath it, it’s spongy to walk on and we worry one of us might disappear down a sink hole.  I try to remember that Giovanni tells me this is the animals territory and we are the incomers but I do think they are taking liberties,  they could be devastating the whole of the mountainside instead of our 3/4 acre of cultivation.