June is garden month in Menton. Menton has many famous gardens and I hope to feature some of them in the future. However, here we are in May and probably because we've had so much rain, many gardens are looking good.Here is a plant that does well in this climate and on the poor, free draining soil we have here. It's called Echium candicans (sometimes called Echium fastuosum) - 'Pride of Madeira.' It loves our long dry summers and needs no watering. The bees and butterflies just love it. Apparently it's a member of the borage family (remember borage in Pimm's? - a long delicious drink decorated with young leaves of borage - mint was an alternative) My mother always used to serve Pimm's No 1 Cup before lunch on Sundays - in the summer.
The green plant you see in the foreground with the sprays of tiny flowers about to bloom is a young avocado. If you click on the smaller photo to the left you can see that an echium can fill quite a space. I love how it tumbles over the walls, don't you?
Note: care is needed when cutting back an echium - or even brushing past its hairy leaves. It can set up a skin irritation. I always forget...
(I've had no telephone or internet connection for two days - France Telecom tell me it'll not be up for a few days. Some problem between my house and the road. Grrrrrrr. Am posting from a cyber cafe - very sorry but can't comment for the moment but thank you so much for your comments. Will catch up as soon as poss).
This is a very beautiful flower!
ReplyDeletej'espère que tes problèmes avec France Telecom n'est que temporaire.
ReplyDeleteSuperbe couleur, ces fleurs. A l'ouverture cela m'a fait penser a de la lavande.
Jilly, that Pride of Madeira is stunning. I don't think I've ever seen it before. You say it needs long and dry summers so maybe it's cultivated down south. I'll have to look it up. Gorgeous thing!
ReplyDeleteHopefully, France Telecom will fix the problem soon. I wouldn't mind having no phone for a couple of years... ;D, but I don't like it one tiny bit when I can't connect to the 'net.
Cheers!
It is a beautiful plant and I like the way it does cascade.
ReplyDeleteWe have long dry summers, but I have never seen one. Very striking.
ReplyDeleteHello, Jilly . I come from "Subang Jaya Daily Photo", and I noticed your blog as my family and I are devotees of Menton. So I leaved Paris, passed in Malaysia, then turn back in Menton via Internet, that's the magic. We have an apartment here, and we come each time we can. Hope you wil come sometimes in our blog to visit and see our pictures of Menton.
ReplyDeleteHello, Jilly . I come from "Subang Jaya Daily Photo", and I noticed your blog as my family and I are devotees of Menton. So I leaved Paris, passed in Malaysia, then turn back in Menton via Internet, that's the magic. We have an apartment here, and we come each time we can. Hope you wil come sometimes in our blog to visit and see our pictures of Menton.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo Jilly.
ReplyDeleteOf all your blogging friends I understand best what you are going thru, stay cool and don't worry about visiting - we can visit you!!
Ah yes! We have this plant here, especially over on the coast of Mendocino. Even more often seen there is the Tower of Jewels plant, related to this one, that was brought to Mendocino by the Portuguese immigrants originating in the Azores. The climate must be very similar, with dry summers, but whose heat is modified by proximity to the sea. They are very striking, but I'm told they are very picky about where they will grow.
ReplyDeleteWow Jilly, those spirals of purple are amazing. They must have their own structural mathematical formula.
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing us garden images from an internet cafe. That's dedication! :-)
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo
Very beautiful flowers. I am an admirer of beautiful flowers but not very good with their names...lol.
ReplyDeletebeautiful foliage. Sucha rich porple.
ReplyDelete