My Millgrove garden, the most serious I have ever had, was a collection of my favourite flowering plants plus unusual evergreens. In the 27 years of gardening there, I tried many exotics which failed, and some which I coaxed along and eventually brought to good health. It seemed I was always pushing the edge on which kind of lilac or poppy or rhodie I could get to grow. Vineland Nurseries had an abundance of unusual plants, gown in the microclimate of the Niagara-on-the-lake area which was a full climate zone warmer than up the mountain in Flamborough. When it came to planting the garden at Gatewood Court, I chose the ones I had to have, and have still managed to kill a number and had to rethink locations for others. Every space has its limitations.
It is winter here too.
But here on Sao Miguel, the Portugese encountered a climate of eternal spring and, being the exploring types that they were, they brought back plants from all over the world. Their municipal gardens are showpieces of spectacular trees and flowering plants from Africa, New Zealand, Australia, China and the Caribbean. Norfolk Island Pines stand as tall as the magnificent avenue in Napier, NZ; Australian banyan trees snake their roots through the forest; bougainvillea hang over garden walls, birds of paradise ring the fountain in the roundabouts; palms tower over tiny walled gardens and there are Camellia and hibiscus hedges everywhere. In the summer season, the island is a blaze with hydrangea -- they are grown as fences between fields and keep the cows from escaping.
So I have been thinking, what would I put in my garden if I lived here. Certainly azaleas and rhodies which are my very favourite and there lots of them around and blooming now, but also some of these strange little bushes which I have no idea what they are. After that, the sky -- or at least my garden wall-- would be the limit.
And what have the locals just planted in their flower pots outside the cathedral and the town hall? Pansies!
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