The
Mediterranean Garden Society

Looking for housesitters
Colin Cross
August 2010

English members living in Central Italy seek housesitters for a period of 8 to 10 days at the end of August/beginning of September. Rural position but with easy access to nearby towns, beautiful Mediterranean garden (according to visitors!) plus pool. Only "duties" watering of pots and vegetable area and to provide company for a newy acquired dog, quiet and well behaved, who we are reluctant to uproot again now that she is at home here! Further information can be obtained by e-mail.

A Tribute to Meye Maier 1944-2010
Cali Doxiadis
May 2010

Meye could deliver a learned, insightful and organized presentation of Islamic gardens while sorting and consulting a jumble of crumpled papers. She produced whole plants out of her capacious pockets demanding growing instructions, roared with laughter at involuntary mistakes in her own voluble idiosyncratic English, and giggled as she pointed out and mimicked the ridiculous postures assumed by botanisers in thrall to a specimen.

Always contradictory, she could be blithely though involuntarily hurtful (and sometimes pointedly insulting) in her casual criticism, while at the same time performing an impulsive and generous act of true friendship. She was an enthusiast in her life, her work, her plants and her writings.

She made an art of fashion design and perfumery and was a gifted botanical artist and photographer. Larger than life and passionate, her presence at MGS events never passed unnoticed. We will miss her. I will miss her.

Back Copies of The Mediterranean Garden

Copies of most issues of The Mediterranean Garden are available for members and non-members. Consult the full list of Journal back copies and their contents. Price per copy (incl. postage) is 8.00 euros.
Contact: the MGS Secretary, PO Box 14, Peania, GR-19002 Greece or by email.

Members only are offered copies of the older issues that are still available, up to no. 45 (July 2006), in packs of ten. The cost is €10 per ten copies plus postage & packing. Please consult Sundries in The Mediterranean Garden no. 58 for the cost per packet in your area.

Cuscuta
Jon Parker, BH Italy
July 2009

Cuscuta – Dodder, Devil’s guts/hair/ringlet, Goldthread, Hail/Hairweed, Helbine, Love vine, Pull-down, Strangleweed and Witch’s hair.

Help ... Have any of you come across this nightmare? Do you know of an effective treatment against it? Evidently the seeds may lie dormant in the soil for up to six years.

Believe it or not, this arrived in the very expensive packet of wild flower seeds from an Italian supplier that I had recommended. See photographs (normally of the more beautiful parts of our garden): the last photograph being of the result from a packet of seed direct from France - "Vive la différence!" - needless to say, without Cuscuta.

Email suggestions to Jon

Shade tree for Montepulciano, Tuscany
John and Brigid Salt
June 2009

Has anybody a suggestion for a medium-sized shade tree to put in a south-facing courtyard near Montepulciano, Tuscany?
I don't want to use a mulberry or an olive tree — we have them elsewhere. I wondered about a white American dogwood (Cornus florida) or may be a prunus such as Prunus yedoensis (yoshino cherry) or Prunus sato-zakura okumiyako. Something with an spreading branch structure would be nice. Email suggestions to John and Brigid.

Keeping your journals
Fleur Pavlidis
February 2009

With the offer of free back issues being so popular, many members will now find themselves with a whole shelf of TMGs; or possibly a pile wishing it had shelf space. Illustrated are two ways that members have dealt with the problem of keeping their TMGs tidy.

In Greece Ariadne Condelis introduced us to a covered cardboard box which holds exactly 40 copies and takes up only the width and a bit of one journal on the shelf. The boxes are 15.5 x 24.75 cm externally, with sloping sides so that the journals are accessible. The board is 0.3 cm thick and is strengthened to double thickness in the front. What makes the boxes attractive enough to appear on the bookshelf is the covering of book-binders' fabric. We now get regular deliveries from the box-maker and many members have benefitted.

Photo by D Michaelides

In Turkey Robin Pierce has had his journals bound into these smart volumes, one per year.

Robin writes,"I've got the last stack of journals at the binders in Izmir. As you can see from the enclosed photo I have more than half done but due to the vagaries of supply the cover colour has changed mid stream to the rather glitzy silver. Let's hope he doesn't run out before the remainder is finished and we have to put up with a third tone in the series!"

I must say I think the change of tone adds rather than subtracts.

Photo by R Pierce

Any recommendations for garden tools in France?
Duncan Munford
January 2009

Do any members have recommendations for brand names/suppliers of high quality garden tools in France. The Duchy of Cornwall in the UK are doing some great handmade kit but the transport of goods such as that to France is not really ethically sound and the cost of delivery is fairly prohibitive. Specifically, I am looking for items such as border forks. duncan.munford@gmail.com

A rare plant finds a safe home
John Joynes
March 2008

In 2007 I sent a photo of an arum in my garden, near Limassol in Cyprus, that I was trying to identify. When it flowered this year I called in an expert, Georgios Hadjikyriakou, who came and took a comprehensive series of photos from every angle. Having checked it against his records and his private herbarium specimens, he has confirmed its identity as a rare Cyprus endemic, Arum sintenisii. It is the first time it has been found in this area of the island.

Arum sintenisii appears in the Red Data Book of Cyprus where it is classified as VU (Vulnerable) i.e. at 'high risk of extinction in the wild'. It was first recorded in 1880 in just one location and described as A. orientale. In 1994 it was discovered in another location and described as a distinct endemic species, A. sintenisii. I had seen the reference in the Red Book and thought the photo bore a remarkable resemblance to my plant but was unsure as its recorded locations are a very long way away from here, one in the Occupied North and the other in the north-western tip of the island. Also it has until now only been recorded growing at between 250-600 metres, whereas my plant is at a mere 30 metres above sea level.

How it got here remains a mystery.

Members in Naples area?
Hilary Shenton & John Kerley
January 2008

We live in Rivello at 800m on the south side of Monte Sirino. We would be very interested to hear from members in this area which is actually in Basilicata but close to the Campania border and the Cilento National Park. Any advice on planting at altitude, what grows on hillsides etc and especially about fruit tress and vegetables would be gratefully received! Anyone visiting the area would be most welcome if they would like to call! 0039 320 822 7068 hilary@zarza-alpacas.com