By Rosie Peddle
Our first impressions of the Algarve were always shaped by the plants and trees that we saw here – whether we were here on holiday in the summer heat in August and September and saw blue Eryngium maritimum (sea holly) on the beach with the Pancratium white sea daffodil flowers or when, finally free of the school holiday tyranny, we could come in April and May for the spectacular wild flowers and orchids, or in January and February when the almond blossom is painting pink outlines in the blue sky.
We were used to veering off onto the wilder paths and tracks in search of the source of wonderful perfumes, spiky outlines or unusual colours of the plants around us. Our dream was to have some land of our own where these things grew and we could see the seasonal changes happening in front of our eyes, day to day, over a whole year.
Having studied these plants over the years of being visitors to the Algarve, it was an enormous pleasure to finally realise that we could have our own place and really start to learn about them. Plants adapted to do well in the difficult conditions of long hot dry summers in thin poor soils and the short sharp rains of winter with stormy winds and the occasional air frost – a very typical mediterranean climate, in common with many other parts of the world.
We have had our garden for nine years now and the plants have to fend for themselves. We have no automatic watering systems and the most special care they might receive is a rabbit guard!Right from the start our great pleasure was to venture out and about in our four-acre plot just looking, observing the huge diversity of wild plants that had made their home on this long abandoned carob farm.
We had olives, almonds, some citrus – but nature had filled the gaps for us. If cistus does well then try using more cistus; if phlomis, rosemary and lavender do well, try different varieties of these plants.
It was not always possible to resist the urge to buy and plant the more exotic or unusual plants we saw for sale here. The range was so very different to that we were used to in the north of Europe.
It soon became obvious that we could not live with that kind of garden. Some have made great container plants but I have a bucket with the labels of the plants I have killed – a very good lesson in humility.
So, we learned quickly that the old adage, “the right plant in the right place”, was the way forward. That was the start of a frustrating search. We were educating ourselves about the plants we thought would be right but, as many others know, it was nearly impossible to get them locally.
Five years ago local members of the Mediterranean Garden Society supported a suggestion that we should try to hold an event which brought together small nurseries and local gardeners that were producing the robust and appropriate type of plants we were all looking for.
The response to this event has been marvellous. Suddenly we realised we were not alone and that there many others looking for “the right plant for the right place”.
This year we will be holding our fifth Mediterranean Garden Fair on Saturday October 26 (11am to 5pm) in the large market place just south of Estoi town centre.
We will have plenty of space for the nurseries to show their plants. The popular MGS members’ plant stall will have a great selection of plants from our own gardens, many natives and others from mediterranean zones around the world.
Entry is free to all and there is an enormous car park. We are very grateful to the president of the newly-united Junta de Freguesia de Conceição e Estoi for his permission to hold our event, and also for providing help, encouragement and collaboration.
The theme of low maintenance gardens is in response to the many enquiries we have had about how to have a wonderful mediterranean garden without an expensive and time-consuming lawn. This is the subject of one of our workshops at the fair.
We will have space to have our free plant clinic and advice area, and we will also have our usual free small workshops and demonstrations of gardening techniques such as growing from seed, from cuttings and using native plants.
Our members have volunteered to share their experience and knowledge with visitors and the nurseries will be happy to talk with you about their plants.
This year our event is very definitely all about the plants!
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