How much will you miss outdoor gardening in the next few months?

You’ve let the cat out of the bag there, Shiney! I had been hoping you’d think I’d written that, but of course, you got the measure of me, it was beyond my vocabulary bank. I was going to put a warning saying Whatever you do, do not read the rest of that quote, it ranks among the bleakest of them all … Had I revealed my sources, some on this forum would probably have said that Shakespeare was “not a very nice man”. Although Beckett tops it in Godot, but let’s not go there! … Another “not very nice man”.

Retired last century, eh? Maybe I did too, but I can’t remember what I did last century. I am impressed that you do!

 

Mrs Lao read that and said She’s got you sussed out alright! … I don’t know what she means by that … I don’t think she knows either! … she probably thinks it’s one of her best cards.

 

On our last two days here before returning to the balmy north … We were outside the largest Gothic cathedral in the world this afternoon. I was looking at some terrible grouting (on one of those beige walls) which I just about managed to absorb without getting sick to my stomach, and it suddenly brought an unexpected association, and I told Mrs Lao about your limp thumb, but she ignored me (often the best policy). Tout à coup, I was taken by surprise on hearing her say: Noisette, eat your heart out. I said What are you on about? She said Didn’t she say that she once had walked 40 kilometres and came back without even a cyclamen? Look at those; someone must have walked a lot of kilometres for those! There they were, right there, on the cathedral square! She continued Do you know, they cost £4.50 a pop at Tooting Market. I said Gosh, there must be at least a hundred of them in there. £450 quid’s worth in that small patch! They look great, though, don’t they? She said You must be joking, we are not doing that!

@noisette47 : Can one grow them from seed, do you know? I thought of asking AI, but after what you said, I don’t trust it anymore on gardening matters!

 

I'd avoid Tooting market! Even here, Cyclamen can be had for €1 during a Lidl promo Yes they can be grown from seed but IME the most successful are the Neapolitanum and Coum species, both pink or white. I've tried hybrids in the past and ended up with one plant. Fortunately, once a mother plant starts self-seeding, the stock quickly increases if the babies are pricked out and grown on. Thompson and Morgan and Mr Fothergill's used to be good sources.....one of our resident experts will advise you of current availability

 

... and nor have we, as we much enjoyed the efforts of others, avoiding the lassitude of winter in more clement latitudes. We’ve now reached the end of this lovely interlude which culminated in a bizarre and disconcerting incident.

Having, after thirty years, been reacquainted with the marvels of Granada and Cordoba, we spent the last two days in Seville, paying particular attention to the Alcázar; some buildings convey a sense of eternity, and this is certainly one of them. It is bewildering that the infinite variety and subtlety of this well-balanced architecture, art, and design, should have found their origins in countries that are now sinking under the turbulent waters of barbaric dictatorships. It is all the more moving that so many of these treasures are being devotedly nurtured, restored, and preserved in Spain, a country which has survived the horrors of a devastating civil war and, despite enormous difficulties, has since embraced political pluralism.

It is generally claimed that abstract art was invented in the 1910s, but here are countless examples of it in its purest form; ironic that it evolved through medieval obscurantism, as well as religious and philosophical restrictions.

I had spent a week working in the Alcázar in the early 2000’s and thought I thoroughly knew the building, so imagine my stupor when, on turning a corner to introduce Mrs Lao to the fond memory of the 'Patio de las Doncellas' with its marble paving and beautiful fountain, I found the space utterly unrecognisable, to the point of wondering whether a genie had transported me to Bagdad, Istanbul, or Timbuktu. It was a surreal, bewildering moment. This is how I had remembered the Patio:


but this is what we actually saw:



It transpired that a former structure including a basin flanked by two oblong gardens were rediscovered and restored in 2005. The gardens had originally been sunk to allow viewers to be level with the top of the trees. Searching high and low, we eventually spotted the fountain which has been repositioned in the Palace’s grounds. It was a relief to find it intact and well, although, intriguingly, it had been given a septagonal brick surround, rather than the original marble octogon … so the loop wasn’t quite looped!



We hope, however, to loop the loop later today (good choice: Friday the 13th!), as we return to sunny England, hopefully without loops from the aircraft.

I always count on Mrs Lao’s alertness!

 

Now that's a restoration after my own heart! If in doubt, plant something Are they citrus trees, LAO?
Have a safe flight back! Thick cloud but light winds forecast, so not too knuckle-whitening This calls for a clip from 'Airplane!' but I wouldn't know which to choose

 

Thank you. The aircraft wheels did not quite freeze on the London runway and the first breath of London air was less of a shock than expected (the temperatures in the south dip quite a bit at dusk and dawn).

They are indeed; when I asked a guard (of whom I couldn’t understand a word, and who for a while abundantly reciprocated), I was eventually told by two other guards whom she had consulted, that they were‘naranjos amargos de Sevilla’ which, Mrs Lao’s mobile phone translated as ‘Seville bitter orange trees’; always ready to probe, I said But there are no oranges on them at all and, as we can see, the whole of Seville is ablaze with them! So, the ever-resourceful Mrs Lao took out her phone again (always quite an operation, this) and, selecting some miraculous ‘app’ - pointed the thing at the leaves (remember, they are eye-height in this new 2005 arrangement) and, stated: Seville bitter orange trees!”. Are the trees too young to produce fruit? Might there be another reason? You’ll know a lot more about it than me.

Nous sommes au coeur des six semaines sombres ... J'ai donc l'espoir du soleil qui remonte l'horizon ...

 

Ahhh...that would be because they don't have Miracle-Gro in Spain Either that or aforementioned guards have heard about marmalade and have been sneaking the fruit out to make contraband confiture

 

Immediately started enjoying winter gardening by being sent out in the cold (I wasn’t cold for long!) to turn over Mrs Lao’s vegetable garden (all twelve square metres of it, but they all count!) and, lo and behold, imagine my joy when my little summer friend, bold as you like, came to visit. Not at all deterred, it even at one point rested on the fork. I was so pleased to see her/him, as our robin-red-breasts always emigrate to Portugal (or is that an old wives’ tale?). We once had one who had a wonky feather on its wing (maybe @Victoria has seen it) who religiously (if that’s the word) disappeared every winter (perhaps - on its way to the Algarve - to Lourdes to get its wing fixed? although that didn’t work), and then faithfully returned in late spring until, one April, it was never seen again; to this day, we suspect next door’s cat!

“Where have you been?!” (Not sure who said it to whom)

 

Aren't they endearing? And photogenic We had at least one every winter in UK that did the self-same thing, perching on the fork as soon as it stopped moving, eagle-eyed (there's ambition for you) for the slightest wriggly, edible morsel. We ended up with a dedicated saucer on the veg plot, and spent far more time furnishing it with tasty tidbits than actually growing veg I'm not sure robins necessarily take their hols in Portugal, though. Ours appear between November and April, as do the wrens.

 

This old article may answer your question LAO ...

I https://www.portugalresident.com/robins-a-sign-of-winter/

I don't know about Seville oranges, but I live in orange country here and they appear to fruit in three years after planting about one meter tall.

 

That, they are! We get anxious when they disappear … and wonder what the future might bring.

 

Thank you for the article. Perhaps our one of the last few years was female, then. And the current one is male.

As for the oranges, what a sight your picture is! We have great difficulty here finding really good oranges (we only get them for the juice); perhaps you can recommend a particular species?