Gardeners, our time to take a rest from our yard work has come. Hopefully we got all our perennials moved, divided, and replanted; hopefully we brought in our planters; hopefully we have our yards, no matter how big or small, ready for the welcome rest of winter!
So make yourself a cup of tea and sit down with me for a few minutes, and let's travel together to a beautiful place that we were lucky enough to visit recently: Portofino, Italy. You know how sometimes you see a picture in a travel book and you think to yourself that it can't possibly look as pretty as that in real life? And then you see it, and it's even lovelier than you could have imagined? For me, that was Portofino.
Portofino is a small seaside village, in the province of Genoa, Italy, on the Italian Riviera. It is a beautiful spot, with tall, thin buildings in soft pastel colors clinging to the steep cliffs. Colorful boats of all sizes, from small fishing boats to multi-million dollar yachts bob gently in the sheltered harbor. The air is soft and moist, and fresh with the scent of the vegetation that grows everywhere. The hardiness zone for Italy is 9 and 10, so it is like a tropical paradise.
While some people may have spent their time watching for the many celebrities that visit the town (I didn't see any!), I was transfixed by the beautiful plants that grow in wild abandon! There are all kinds of palms and assorted trees, including olive, bay and lemon. Imagine seeing olives growing on a tree! Amazing! As we walked around, there was always something in bloom: planters in the town contained bright red geraniums and vibrant orange lantana. The colors were almost neon in the bright sunshine! The tall buildings had shuttered windows, with cheery little flower boxes that spilled over with more geraniums and lush vines. And on the hillside, growing seemingly out of sheer rock, there was a variety of succulents of astonishing size: I saw one that looked like a yucca, but it must have been six or seven feet across.
We didn't see that much of the town, but in the area we visited, there didn't seem to be any homes with gardens, as we are used to here. Perhaps they do have gardens elsewhere, but I'm sure they would be amazed at the size of the gardens that we have! They would also be surprised at our terrain: the village is built up. Literally.
Everywhere you want to go, you have to navigate stairs and an uphill climb. (Probably there is an Italian baba telling her grandkids how when she was a young girl, she had to walk four miles to school, uphill both ways; but she would be right!). But we didn't even notice the strenuous stroll, because the sights along the way were so interesting!
What a beautiful place! I wished that you and I could have taken a gardening tour, and then sat down at a street side café and enjoy some cappuccino and talk about the wonderful plants that we had just seen! I was thinking about our garden at home, now in the first throes of winter, and what a contrast it was to the lush growth all around us.
But it is wonderful to be home, and experience the crisp change of the seasons! The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society will be holding their annual general meeting on Wednesday, November 28 at St. Gerard's Parish Complex. This is a members only meeting that will include a banquet, meeting, silent auction, and a travel presentation by our intrepid gardener, Ed Sek. For full details call Liz at 782-2830.
Till next time, have a great week, and enjoy a well-deserved rest!
