12289 Ideas for plants

I was walking in Roma late one evening and was overwhelmed by the sheer beauty and the lovely fragrance coming from two plants tumbling and trailing over a loggia in a private garden, it really was something very lovely! The plants used were Honeysuckle and Jasmine. The Honeysuckle was just gently intertwined throughout the Jasmine and they looked stunning growing together.

I don't know if they would be suitable for you - it was just that your post triggered a nice memory for me. :yes:

This was the type of Jasmine used.

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"moved to italiauncovered.co.uk"

Rosemary, sage and some species of lavender do very well. Jasmin and honeysuckle, as suggested by JC, are lovely and should present no problems. Lantana is very hardy. We have been discussing many of these useful plants in our Gardening Group and our members are always giving excellent advice. It is open to everyone, no invitation needed, so you are most welcome to join in.

Please post here or PM me, the height your house is situated at jepsonclough and I can then offer some advice too.

The plant illustrated by juliancoll is trachylospermum jasminoides - wonderful scent and much hardier than jasminum vareties. They'll all be called jasminum by Italian non-specialist nurseries, but the trachylospermum has oval glossy leaves, shown well in the photo.

Gosh I wasn't expecting to get so many replies so quickly! The house is at about 250m asl, with the land (mostly walnut trees) running down to the River Tenna, and the ground around the house is quite sloping so we are terracing some of it. We are not really above the snow line but we do get some snow occasionally.

Thanks JC for reminding me that it was jasmine I was thinking of and not japonica - I think intertwined with the Virginia creeper it will give a lovely smell with good shade.

Unfortunately I won't be able to get out to Italy until the middle of August so the idea of going round the markets isn't really an option for me. Giovanni our gardener (who is also a neighbour) has said that he will take my husband to get the plants as he will get a better price. I think we will probably do some planting soon and then maybe next time I go out I will draw some more plans to extend the planting rather than trying to do too much too soon.

Chris

Thanks I envy you both the height and the river. If only I could remember the name of the book, ideal for you, written by a woman who planted a garden in France. It was a pretty, lilac and cream coloured book through out, with beautiful illustrations, but a guest took a fancy to it!! Yvonne may know, she is a member of the Forum's Garden Group and has a brilliant blog [url=http://giardinoumbro.blogspot.com/]Giardino in Umbria[/url]

The virginia creeper planted with the trachelspernum won't really work as one will out do the other and I doubt you'll see much of those autumn coloured leaves once the trach... gets going, so plant them seperately. Or plant the creeper with a gentler plant. I'll PM you my email address so I can send you some advice that I did for another Forum member, in the hope that it may help a bit.:smile:

LATER...Tracked down the book. A delightful thing and with lots of suggestions for those living at BELOW 400mts in central Italy.
Diary of a French herb garden by Geraldene Holt. Pavilion Books, 2002

Lavender, bay trees, lauel, rosemary to include the trailing one, jasmine, roses, oleander and bottle brush (but keep it out of the wind) I also have cordyline, formium and aloe vera. In the summer of course loads of geraniums.

that should keep you going for now! happy planting

Pam

I must say I am very fond of Oleander. It IS poisonous in all its parts but hey who wants to chew any ornamental garden plant. Cuttings are rather easy. Take nice stems 18 inches long, remove lower leaves, remove 30% of the length of the top leaves and stick them in water in a light-proof container (apparently the spaniards favour beer bottles) Place in a shady spot and change the water about once a week and in no time roots will appear and they can be potted up in good compost (eg Compo) . Where to get cuttings?, buy a mother plant or beg cuttings off your nice neighbours.

Just a thought from this thread, the nice Italian lady suggested sage which indeed does well here and we all know that sage is a salvia and I have seen some beautiful perennial salvias in the UK, does anyone have experience of planting these beauties in Italy? If so which ones?

Would agree with other suggestions here re plants. We've found that lavender is a useful holiday home border filler and requires very little maintenance. It's also pretty easy to grow from cuttings. You can usually pick up a good sized lavender plant from the garden centres in Italy for around 2.5 euros and of course do a deal if you buy in bulk. I've actually grown most of my plants from seed here in the Gulf and we smuggle them into Italy as Jiffy 7 potted seedlings. Slightly crazy and illegal I know but has worked so far...:winki:
Rosemary and lavender looks good planted together and bay laurels are another inexpensive shrub that makes a great evergreen screen if planed about 3 feet apart.
I also think you can't beat a wisteria. We have a few and 1 is pretty established. They need to be pruned fairly hard in August/Sept so that around 1 foot new growth remains but if you do this they will perform well the following year. When we get over there at Easter ours are usually in bloom and covered in bees...superb!

Salvia officinalis or common sage grows well in many gardens in Italy. The ornamental varieties, such as Salvia Splendens can have some problems, although they would do well in warm climates. As for perennial against annual, it again depends on the climate conditions.
Wisteria does well and it is beautiful, but it has to be kept under control through pruning at the right time, as suggested.