An Algarve Garden

ooooh lol just been in your albums, absaloutly fabulous....loved the sand garden,dance floor, patios, Brugons, Cannas, didnt know you could get different colours, mines orange,everything, if it was my garden id have it exactly like that..oo and whats a Jak? DEE

 

Thank you Babe, elainefiz and ydd.

I have five different Cannas now but not an orange one, which is the next one I'm looking for. You can buy them already in bloom here for a five (�£3.50).

My rockery in the corner under the almond tree (there's also one on either side of the dance floor) is a pink and orange rockery as those two colours are so striking together offset by green.

A Jak is a Jacaranda, the beautiful tree with ferny fronds and intense lilac blue clusters of flowers.

 

Hi lol i would never of thought to mix pink and orange but you have made it work and thats why your gardens so Fab,how thick am I.of course a jakaranda ive heard of them and its a beautiful tree you should add garden designer to your list of talents lol, DEE

 

Thank you, ydd.

Just to prove we are not always sunny here but look very pretty and green in the rain ...

The sand garden with, left to right, Rosemary, Europys pectinatus, Viburnum (in the back), Brugmansia with Cestrum behind it and Iochroma in front, Verbena in pot and Lotus and Osteopernum in the rocks, all backed by a Jacaranda ...



... and from the other side, left to right, Tecomaria, Bush Bougainvillea, Rosemary, Euryops pectinatus, dotted with Cannas and Birds of Paradise ..



From the dance floor (a patio over the underground cisterna which hold nearly 20,000 litres of rainwater) looking to the lane. It's hard to pinpoint everything but this rockery contains Melaleuca, scented Geranium, Callistemon viminalus, Chamelaucium uncinatum, Europys chrysanthemoides, Gaura, Lampranthas, Aloe Vera, mini Agaves, Freesias, Belladonna Lillies (blooming in the background by the white wall), Agapanthus, Valottas, Osteopernum, trialing Geraniums, etc, etc, all under a large Jacaranda ...



An 18 inch patio rose, Sunseeker, heaving with buds now over the top of the trellis, Lantana to the right ...



Front to rear, Sunseeker rose, Lantana, Poincettia, Jacaranda, Viburnum to the right with mini Birds of Paradise in front ...



... and just a closeup of my favourite, a pink Brugmansia sauvolens, in it's third flush of flowering ...

 

Lovely as usual LoL it has certainly made a big difference that rain.

 

LoL lovely photos as usual, you cant tell its raining in them, is it still warm over there when it rains, everything is growing lovely

 

Thank you walnut and rosa. Yes, the rain really freshens everything. I have 6 new birds coming on the S reginae. It appears it is a miniature and still develops deformed leaves but the flowers are always perfect and there are two new side shoots on the S nicolai up on the deck. It has had four new leaves since I bought it and a fifth is about to open.

I can assure you we're having plenty of rain, rosa, in torrents. We go to about 24 in the daytime and 18 at night. Soon after to put a cover on the bed, we're only using a duvet cover without duvet but it feels coolish. :rolleyes:

 

Hi LoL. Why did you suggest I look at your garden? Boss lady would tell you I suffer deadfully with jealousy. Seriously, it's great. My kind of plants, my kind of environment, my kind of weather. Move over will you? :D

 

I agree john, the layout and design of the gardens are exceptional.. lol did you plan it all before you moved in, or did you design each area as you went along?

 

Thank you, John ... I've got some goodies from the garden for you, freshly picked today. Will post by Thursday.

Hi, Cutie. We had the property for three/four years before we moved here and came over twice a year on our holidays (a 12-day trip and a 13-day trip) by car. I would spend the entire time gardening ... pretty heavy work in intense heat working with red clay on a predominantly rock base. I always wanted "rooms" and plenty of shade. As you see by the first photograph, it was a weed patch with no redeeming features but the almond tree on the lane. The first things I planted were the two Jacarandas, an Oleander and a Hibiscus.

The garden is only 16 x 13 meters, on which there is a shed of 12 sq m, the Baffa (outdoor living room) of 20 sq m with the deck on top giving an additional 20 sq m of space. There is a separate kitchen patio of 5.5 x 4 meters which has the bread oven of 2.1 x 2.1 sitting on it. There are seven distinct seating areas, the Baffa being the only one under cover and the deck being in full sun all day.

I love designing and did architectural draughting in my heyday (as well as rocket sub-assemblies) so it was easy for me. I've designed the kitchen and bathrooms here also.

It's getting quite jungle-like in places now which is magical.

 

wow lol, all that enjoyable work, worth every ache, laughter, tears,and time

 

Entering November, it looks like we're heading for our equivalent of the Indian Summer, called O Ver�£o do S�£o Martins (the Summer of Saint Martin) ... we would like to be having rain.







As the Cannas are dying back, the BoPs are starting to bloom again ...



The Poinsettia, topping three meters, is starting to colour for Christmas (nearer the coast they are in full bloom already) ...

 

LoL, still your wonderful pictures of your lovely garden keep coming...jealous, not a bit!!!! :D

 

more lovely photos LoL, are those like lights on the wall they look lovely.I,m jealous its gorgeous would love a garden and place like yours

 

Thank you DAG and rosa. Yes, rosa, they are lights on the wall. The downlighters are two of the eight we found at the rubbish bins recently and decided to do something different with them so created "table lamps" for fun.

You will one day, Sweetie ... Spain is not that long off.