Hello Everyone,

This a full day trip by small coach to the western region of the Alentejo. We will visit the spectacular garden of Jean-Paul Brigand & Ann Kenny near Cercal, see http://olharfeliz.typepad.com/  Jean-Paul has 218 different citrus, together with many other fruits, pomegranates and other edible plants. The roses are an inspiration and scented plants have centre stage. This is joint event with the Amigos do Sotavento garden group.

We ask everyone to bring their own lunch as a picnic in order to save time during the day. Jean-Paul and Ann have kindly agreed to let us have our picnic lunch in their garden but you must bring your own food and drink. The coaches will be with us all day and bags can be left on the bus if necessary. There will be an opportunity to have a coffee and cake at the café next to the garden centre near to Vila Nova de Milfontes.  There are some photos on www.gardeninginportugal.com

The garden centre has an unusual and wide range of plants and sundries. There is a good range of orchids for sale also. The owner, Bruno Pedroso speaks excellent English and will be happy to talk to our groups and answer questions. A ten per cent discount on all your purchases has been arranged with Bruno. We will aim to have plenty of space available on the coach for your shopping ! http://espacosudoeste.blogspot.pt/2012/02/vamos-animar-malta.html

Included in the programme is a visit to a European growing centre for bamboo. This is the commercial nursery facility http://www.bambuparque.com/ for a world famous bamboo nursery http://www.bambouseraie.com/ The site is so enormous that we will drive around it in the coach and stop near the main office for a selection of plants for sale. We hope to have a guided tour but this has to be confirmed.

This full day trip is planned for a group of 40 people divided between two small coaches. The cost is 20 euro per person. On this occasion we will give priority to club and MGS members but everyone will pay the same transport cost. As we have committed to the expenditure for the coaches, we ask everyone to join the trip using the coach. This will also make it easier for our hosts with regards to parking, timing etc. Please send your bookings to Rosie at the above email address or tel. 289 791 869 for more info.

As time is short we will need to know as soon as possible if you wish to join this special visit to the western Alentejo. We therefore ask for your bookings by Friday 4^th May at the latest. All bookings must be paid for, whether you can attend on the day or not. This is to cover the costs for the hire of the coaches.

PROGRAMME

8.30am First collection at Moncarapacho, Casa do Povo. Cars may be left in the small car park near to the Galp petrol station or next to the pottery.

Depending on bookings we will also collect and drop-off at Estoi and Messines but this will depend on numbers and requirements of those joining the trip.

FIRST COACH Provisional ITINERARY

10.30 – 11.00am arrives at Lugar de Olhar Feliz, Cercal. There will be a short talk by Jean-Paul followed by a guided tour of the garden. As we will all have lunch here there will be plenty of time to look round the garden.

1.00 – 2.15 pm Approx. Picnic lunch in the garden, please bring your sun hats etc. depending on the weather.

2.30pm Arrive at Espaço Sudoeste Garden Centre, Vila Nova de Milfontes for short talk and Q&A session with Bruno Pedroso and plant buying opportunities.

3.30pm Depart for Bambu Parque, tour and plant buying opportunities.

5.00pm Approx. Depart for return journey to Algarve.

SECOND COACH Provisional ITINERARY

10.30 – 11.00am Second coach arrives at Bambu-Parque for a tour and plant purchases.

12 noon approx. Depart for Espaço Sudoeste Garden Centre, Vila Nova de Milfontes for short talk and Q&A session with Bruno Pedroso and plant buying opportunities.

1.15 Depart for picnic lunch at Lugar de Olhar Feliz, Cercal

2.30 There will be a short talk by Jean-Paul followed by a guided tour of the garden.

5.00 approx. Depart for Algarve.

7.30 pm Approx. Arrive back at last drop-off point in Moncarapacho, tired but happy !

http://www.plantday12.eu

University of Algarve / Universidade do Algarve

Penha and Gambelas Campi, 8005-139 Faro/Campi de Gambelas e Penha, 8005-139 Faro
http://www.ualg.pt/

Ana C. Coelho       acoelho@ualg.pt
Marília Horta        mhorta@ualg.pt

• Field trip to a cork oak stand in S. Brás de Alportel-Algarve/Viagem de campo a um sobreiral em S. Brás de Alportel-Algarve
  O sobreiro foi considerado em Fevereiro de 2012, árvore nacional de Portugal. Esta posição confirma a importância económica, ecológica e social que esta espécie de quercus tem no nosso país bem como na Península Ibérica. Vamos portanto, dedicar, o dia 18 de maio, ao estudo da biologia, fisiologia e ecologia do sobreiro, em conjunto com alunos e professores de escolas do Concelho de Faro. Está prevista uma visita de campo à região de S. Brás de Alportel a um sobreiral para, em conjunto, descobrirmos como vegetam estas árvores e o que mais as caracteriza.
  Ana Cristina coelho, acoelho@ualg.pt; 00 351 919073178
  Marília Horta, mhorta@ualg.pt; 00 351 929015910
  Estudantes do ensino básico e secundário e alunos dos cursos de formação de professores
  http://www.ualg.pt/

University of Algarve & Algarve Live Science Center
Universidade do Algarve e Centro Ciência Viva do Algarve
Campus de Gambelas, ed. 5, 8000-810 Faro
https://www.ualg.pt/  http://www.ccvalg.pt/

Salomé Horta smhorta@ualg.pt

Fascination of Plants – Storytelling plants / O Fascínio das Plantas – Plantas contadoras de histórias.

• Exhibition and informal talk / Exposição e conversa
  Exposição de 20 plantas selecionadas do Herbário da Universidade do Algarve com ficha informativa, organizadas em torno de 7 “histórias”: 1 Ervas muito, muito, muito antigas; 2 Endemismos; 3 Plantas carnívoras; 4 Plantas parasitas; 5 O uso das plantas; 6 Magníficas apátridas e desconhecidas; 7 Plantas invasoras. Diaporama com imagens da diversidade vegetal do Algarve ao longo das estações do ano.
  Salomé Horta (smhorta@ualg.pt)
  Todo o público

Burford Hurry has been gardening in the Algarve for 23 years and comes from an African background where heat, drought and cold are not uncommon factors in gardening. MGS members will have read Burford’s article in the April 2009 Journal.  His uniquely wonderful garden is on a steeply sloping site alongside an all year round waterfall, tucked away from the bustle of the town. There are succulents in pots on the different terraced levels and many unusual shrubs.

Renata & Ralph Poehner´s beautiful garden reflects their interest in flowers.  The garden has been established for several years now. It is on limestone and clay and very rocky but the soil has been improved over the years with the addition of organic food. The main feature of this large garden is its wonderful collection of different roses and interesting shrubs and creepers grown over the years by a loving and skilful gardener. It also has a large fish pond set in the minimum of lawn. Another feature is the very large wild area where there is a natural meadow and olive trees.

Margaret Jackson’s dedicated interest in her garden is demonstrated by the sympathetic use of many rare plants alongside native and others more familiar. This is a special opportunity to see a well designed garden with a definite bias towards plantsmanship. Her garden is a lesson in how to use stone, rock and gravel to create texture and interest with carefully selected plants to provide the all important living elements.  . Margaret recently won the ‘Garden of the Year’ award in the competition organised by local garden clubs.

Vivian Hirst is a very experienced garden designer. It is a rare treat to see a garden which has matured under the knowledgeable guiding hand of a discerning designer. This property of 11,000 sq m was bought in the 1980´s. It had a shepherd´s cottage which is now a lovely guesthouse. There are many lessons on use of spaces, and choosing planting appropriate to the conditions. This garden has a wonderful peaceful atmosphere, the use of sun and shade being particularly telling. Vivian has lived and gardened in the Canary Islands and Costa Rica, this gives her a unique insight into using a wide range of planting. We visited this garden in June 2010 and again in November 2011 when we focussed on the many Australian plants in the garden.

Jan & Nigel Chapman have two acres of beautiful grounds, consisting of natural terrain and partly-landscaped gardens, with oleanders, hibiscus, agaves and palms, plus olive, carob and almond trees with many artistic touches from its caring owners. This garden recently won an award for the ‘Most Wildlife Friendly’ garden.  It has also featured in an article on life without a lawn !

Rob & Rosie Peddle´s four acre garden and wild areas, a combination of desperate planting and lazy neglect provides an insight into what nature will do if you leave it well alone. Oh, and we also have a fabulously wonderful natural swimming pond. At the moment the cistus, phlomis and lavenders are flowering in competition with our very smelly jasmine.  The afternoon ended here with tea and cake on the terrace. A great way to talk over the first Spring Conference weekend and think about next year …..

(Jardim Botânico da Universidade de Coimbra or simply Jardim Botânico)

Picasa Photo Gallery click on  picture below

Coimbra Visit, April 26 2012

The tour started at 11.00am with Filipe, our knowledgeable guide – his speciality turned out to be the study of tree rings …. dendochronology, which would be a fascinating talk all by itself !

Some of the group had visited the garden before, but perhaps not with an English speaking guide and entrance to all areas, otherwise closed to the public (greenhouses, bamboo grove and woodland, among others). Recently the maintenance of the garden has improved significantly.

Thanks to a European Economic Area Grant funded by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, a Historic Garden Project was finalized in 2010 re-establishing ancient hydraulic and water-management systems. Water mines, ponds, fountains, tanks and the Sao Bento Chapel were cleaned and restored (See “Water in Portuguese Gardens” by Cristina Castelo-Branco,   www.scribe.pt ) This means that the Botanic Garden is now self-sufficient for all it’s water needs and has saved approximately €25,000 per annum in water bills as a result.

We learned about the garden’s history and the theme of our guided tour was “Discovering the World of Plants”.  The garden was created in 1772 as part of the academic reform undertaken by the Marquis of Pombal. The current area of the garden is now 13ha. As a whole, the Garden is divided into two parts: the woods and the gardens which are arranged in three terraces forming an amphitheatre. There are in excess of 1,200 species, some of which rare and exotic, and which afford the visitors a true journey through the world flora.

Our guide, Filipe, explained that the four areas of activity for all botanic gardens are Education, Conservation, Investigation and Leisure.  At Coimbra they have a very active seed collection and distribution service for the many mature exotic species in the garden. The seed of the date palm (Jubea chilensis) are very much in demand as this is now extinct in the wild and the specimen here is reckoned to be 150 years old and provides excellent genetic material for adding to the stock in cultivation.

He also explained that the garden has lost some old specimens of rare palms due to the red palm weevil and control of this pest is proving very difficult for major palm collections. We were invited to collect leaves from the ground and, after crushing, these released a wonderful citrus smell – Eucalyptus citriodora was the magnificent tree which produced these leaves.

Our tour included the spectacular bamboo forest, the cold shade house and the huge glasshouse which is divided into various controlled zones for tropical and sub tropical plantings. The orchids were looking particularly good for our visit, but, unfortunately, we did not see the Vanilla orchid in flower. Filipe took us through the carnivorous plants and the various strategies they have for capturing a meal, everything from small insects to rodents !

Marion had arranged for us to take our picnic lunches in the splendid Sala dos Azulejos at the Main Seminary in Coimbra and many were also able to park there. There was a short tour of the buildings and  we  then visited the Casa Museu Bissaya Barreto and Garden which was very handily situated just across the road from the Botanic Garden.

This museum used to be the home of its founder (1866-1974) who was a distinguished surgeon, lecturer at Coimbra University and founder of various social services in the centre of the country. Prof. Dr. Bissaya Barreto was one of the pioneers of specialist medicine in Portugal.

All furniture, chinaware, paintings, tapestry, silver, books etc. were works of art collected by Bissaya Barreto. There are 18^th century tiles, statues and a gem of a small greenhouse in the garden. The house retains a homely atmosphere and some of us agreed we could move in any time and enjoy the wonderful selection of art works, many of them from the Orient.

The day had been organised by Marion ter Horst and a splendid job she made of it too.  Thank You Marion, it was well worth the journey up from the Algarve to take part and meet everyone again. Following the very dry winter we have had in the south of Portugal, it was a sheer delight to see fresh spring foliage and enjoy the damp and humid atmosphere, perfect !

Friday/Saturday/Sunday March 23/24/25, 2012

Hapimag Resort, Albufeira, Algarve

Picasa photo gallery – click on photo below

Spring Conference at Hapimag, March 2012

The weekend started on Friday evening with an informal welcome, in the bar of course, where we met Herr Iwan Schneider, Resort Manager. Iwan was a welcoming host and provided a great deal of help and support for our first Spring Conference. Our first  event was a  talk  on The Algarvean Garden at Hapimag by Marilyn Kahan, Gardens Manager at the Hapimag Albufeira resort with responsibility for the garden team and the maintenance and upkeep of the 11 hectare site. Marilyn has managed the Algarvean native plant garden at the resort since its creation.

We heard the story of how it was made – including amazing photos of manoeuvring ancient olive trees inside a fully functioning tourist resort, in a large and muddy JCB. It was a fascinating insight into the enormous amount of work done to clear out the old plantings, including invasive lantanas and acacias, and prepare for the new garden. The presentation gave everyone the chance to learn about the plants used in the garden and the philosophy behind the radical changes that have taken place. For a public resort in a tourist town, this is a revolutionary idea, which  turns the idea of hotel landscaping on its head.  The clearance of lawn and removal of irrigation has encouraged latent native plants to return, the various species of ground orchids being a very welcome and spectacular example.

Saturday was very busy and many joined us just for the day, this had been planned so that those living locally could take part in the conference.

Our  guided tour with Marilyn earlyon Saturday morning gave everyone the chance to see the Algarvean garden for themselves and the opportunity to ask questions. The establishment and ongoing maintenance of this garden is the subject of an article written and illustrated by Marilyn which will be in the April edition of the Mediterranean Garden Society Journal. Those staying at the resort had the joy of close contact with this garden for the whole weekend.

The garden walk was followed on Saturday morning by Lavenders of the Iberian Peninsula,  an illustrated talk by Joan Head, former National Collection Holder for Lavandula species.   Joan, and her husband Michael, have visited Portugal and Spain to study lavenders as well as using them in their own garden. Joan’s talk was an updated and comprehensive presentation with many lovely photos taken during their travels ‘lavender hunting’. The Kew monograph on Lavenders published in 2004 is highly recommended by Joan. There were pictures of plants growing in the wild and in gardens as well as an insight into commercial cultivation. This was an inspiring and informative presentation. I think there were many in the audience who were surprised by the number and variety of species lavenders growing in this part of Europe, and, of course, many lavenders have been used in the Hapimag garden !

Following lunch, there was a Guided walk through the adjacent cliff top southern coastal habitat. Our guides were Udo Schwarzer, a Biologist, and Claudia Schwarzer,a Landscape Architect and specialist in native plant gardens & designer of the Hapimag Algarve garden. They have a wealth of knowledge of Algarve natural history, and are great supporters of MGS locally.   The choice of the Hapimag resort as a base for our first conference was made partly because of this protected nature site.  The walk along the cliff top, and through the special relict carob trees and their associated plants, was an object lesson in taking time to observe and learn from natural plant communities.

On Saturday afternoon there was a well supported MGS plant sales table, plants such as Lavandula dentata candicans and Ballota pseudodictamnus had been propagated by members and were eagerly carried off to their new gardens. In the spacious reception area of the resort we also had a display and sales of old maps and prints of Portugal, books on the orchids, fungi and flora of the Algarve and the information table with all the MGS leaflets. These had been specially printed for the conference weekend in German, English and Portuguese and were a very popular ‘freebie’. Each delegate at the conference received a folder with information on local nurseries and garden centres, recommended walks and bird watching locally. For some this was their first visit to the Algarve. This afternoon break in the formal programme was another opportunity to talk and chat about our own gardening experiences.

Filipe Soares of Sigmetum gave us a presentation in English and had to apologise that he had been unable to bring any plants from this new specialist native plant nursery.  They have been extremely busy with two new large projects, proving the interest in using native plants. This nursery is an initiative of some recently graduated students of the Escola Superior de Agronomia and is based in the botanic gardens of Ajuda in Lisbon. Filipe had to confess that he had never done a presentation in English and he was very grateful for the patience of the audience in allowing him the opportunity to talk to us. There must have been someone listening because there were many requests to organise a trip to visit the nursery following his talk !

After dinner that evening we had the great treat of a presentation on gardens worldwide with a distinctive Mediterranean character.   Maria Sansoni  is the MGS Branch Head for Germany, Austria & Switzerland. She has  a nursery for mediterranean plants near Munich in Germany. In 2010 she was awarded the Hans-Bickel Prize for horticulture.  It was a great pleasure to welcome Maria to the Algarve. Her talk showed us that Mediterranean gardening is a real global phenomenon and we all found something to spark new ideas for our own gardens. Maria was particularly enthusiastic about the gardens of California and Australia and believes that their designers are leading the way in their use of dry garden planting.

Prof. Oliver Rackham gave us a scholarly and fascinating talk on ´The Making of European Mediterranean Landscapes’  He is a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and has studied and published extensively on the ecology of the Mediterranean and also the island of Crete. He is co-author of The Nature of Mediterranean Europe, an Ecological History.  His excellent presentation showed his long experience of lecturing to students with slides from many parts of Europe taken during his extensive investigation of mediterranean habitats. He used many examples from Crete where he has been involved in gaining protection for some threatened areas of the island.  This talk was well supported and appreciated by an audience keen to hear about the historical influences, both natural and man made, which have shaped the ancient mediterranean world through to modern times. This talk was filmed and recorded and we hope to make it available via the internet and have a transcription prepared in Portuguese.

Following the conference, Prof. Rackham was shown some rare rhododendron colonies – the most southerly examples in Europe for these plants. He also enjoyed a day trip through the savannah of the Alentejo and saw many examples of  oak trees, both live and dead ! The trip ended at the magnificent specimen of Quercus rotundifolia,   a protected and historic tree in Sao Bras de Alportel.

Following another superb meal in the Hapimag restaurant for Sunday lunch, we took to the buses for a garden visit to Villa Norvasund, near Ferragudo on the cliff top.   The creation of MGS members, Jon & Torunn Lange Gjedebo. They have built their home in a spectacular coastal setting and made a formal garden using classic Mediterranean plants surrounding the house. Torunn was very pleased that her lovingly propagated echiums were performing really well and the dark blue spires showed up  beautifully against the evergreen shrubs used in the garden. The garden melts into the surrounding landscape using the natural areas as a beautiful setting for the house and garden.  The lavenders, genista, cistus and lonicera in the untouched landscape were a lovely backdrop for our walk out to the cliff top and spectacular views of the sea.

On Sunday evening there were farewell drinks in the bar and and dinner in the Vista Mar Restaurant, Hapimag. This was another opportunity for swapping tall tales about our own garden experiences.  After dinner we “encouraged” everyone to complete the dreaded feedback forms by holding an informal draw. These will be extremely useful in future planning for another year.

Overall about 60 people attended during the weekend, some resident and some day delegates. The excellent accommodation and superb restaurant at Hapimag gave us a splendid venue which was universally praised by all present. We had MGS members from the Costa Blanca in Spain, from the UK and from Germany. It was a great pleasure to welcome Heather Martin and Maria Sansoni. Various nationalities were represented, including Dutch, German, Finnish and, of course, Portuguese !  It was much appreciated by local members that others had taken the trouble to travel long distances for their first experience of Portugal. We look forward to seeing them again and extend a warm welcome to anyone interested in experiencing the wonderful flora and gardens of the Algarve.

December 2011 is the centenary of the death of Joseph Dalton Hooker and this event is being marked by a meeting, organised by the Linnean Society, Kew, the Kew Guild and the University of Sussex, and a special exhibition about his life and work, both at Kew. One of the most influential botanists and scientists of the 19th Century, he was Director of Kew for more than 20 years and was President of the Royal Society from 1873 to 1878.

The joint venture by the Linnean Society and Wiley-Blackwell, making the legacy copy from the Society’s journals available electronically, has allowed us to compile a virtual issue of the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society to celebrate this important anniversary. Here we present five of Hooker’s significant publications published by the Linnean Society. In addition, we also include a collection of 10 papers by other authors, published in the Society’s journals from 1898 to 2009, which reflect the ongoing importance of Hooker’s contribution to botany.

Articles cover the flora of the Galapagos Islands, the Arctic, British India, and the Falkland Islands.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1095-8339/homepage/joseph_dalton_hooker_virtual_issue.htm

Buying books for gardeners can be a real problem, but a well chosen book makes a great present.

If you want some inspiration, have a look at our page on the right with a list of recommended reading for Mediterranean gardeners. One of the joys of longer winter evenings is definitely the chance to settle down with an absorbing read on our favourite topic, plants and gardens of the mediterranean climate zones of the world.

There are some suitable for beginners looking for help and sound practical advice, like the good original book by Hugo Latymer, The Mediterranean Gardener.

There are some with fascinating insights into the forces which formed our mediterranean landscapes, such as the wonderful book by A T Grove & Oliver Rackham on The Nature of Mediterranean Europe.

If you have some suggestions to add to our list, please let me know by posting a comment below.

On Sunday morning after a very busy day at the Garden Fair, a group of helpers enjoyed a  Garden Visit to Mandihari ,Vivian Hirst´s home near Almancil. Vivian is a new member of the MGS and a very experienced garden designer. We visited this garden in June last year when we focussed on the many Australian plants in the garden.

There was much to see and it was a glorious sunny day to visit this very special garden.  It is a rare treat to see a garden which has matured under the knowledgeable guiding hand of a discerning designer. There were many lessons on use of spaces, planting  appropriate to the conditions and everyone was inspired by the wonderful peaceful atmosphere after our hectic annual fund raising event.

Margaret & Jeffrey Jackson  kindly agreed to open their gravel garden to us. Margaret recently won the ‘Garden of the Year’ award in the competition organised by local garden clubs.

It was a special opportunity to see a well designed garden with a definite bias towards plantsmanship – Margaret’s interest in her garden was demonstrated by the sympathetic use of many rare plants alongside the native and more familiar plants.

Margaret’s talk on Sculpture in the Garden  also provided inspiration, from the grand formal set piece grottoes and temples to the sculpted marble figures of Henry Moore and the small collections of terracotta pots and pebbles that we all seem to accumulate in our travels – or even watering cans ! The examples of land art, with a lovely use of rocks, branches and sculpted sand channels made everyone itch to get home and have a go themselves !