Re: Name of Agave like plant

Hello Cali,
I am surprised that anyone remembers my visit to
Greece and especially Crete, which I would love to
visit again, time and money permitting.  I am trying
to persuade Annie Hayes, the owner of Annie's Annuals
and Perennials Nursery here in Richmond, Ca. to join
me, as she has never been back to Greece herself, and
still speaks Greek, as well as being a fellow plant
geek, so it would be great to travel to Greece with
her.  Corfu would obviously be a great place to see as
well, as I have really only seen slices of Crete and
Santorini.

I don't see the Blekinships posting anymore here on
the Medit Plants Forum, and would love it if you
passed on my fond regards.  I had a wonderful visit
with them in their garden in Crete, and an excellent
meal in the nearby coastal town, the name of which I
don't recall.  It seemed a very romantic place to
retire to, a small villa nestled into the orange
groves in Crete, with views towards snow capped
mountains that still had snow visible in mid May, when
I was passing through.  I remember how the Greeks were
such a friendly breath of fresh air after the
relatively closed off culture of the Saudis in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, and I could have easily spent all summer
just in Crete, it was lovely.

It was nice to get some exposure to native Greek
plants and culture, and find that Annie's Annuals
was/is growing so many Greek plants to replicate the
experience.  So many blend well with our native
California species, yet extend the plant palette and
bloom season, and are often less attractive to deer,
gophers and rabbits than our own natives.  I've had to
cover large plantings of Aeonium arboreum 'Swartzkop',
Echeveria subrigida and Setcreasia pallida with bird
netting to keep the deer at bay, while the nearby
Sideritis syriaca is untouched, as is of course the
Euphorbia dendroides.

I hope the summer is going well for you in Corfu, it
has been lovely here in Berkeley, with lots of new
gardens going in, and enough outings and garden tours
and parties in the gardens to keep it interesting. 
Especially nice has been back to back tours of the
Ruth Bancroft Garden, finally a tour of Roger Raiches
new garden up in Calistoga, and getting to know the
clients with the Brandon Tyson designed garden on
Euclid Ave here in Berkeley, which has a large
transplanted mature palm that came out of the famous
Inga Hoffman's garden in San Leandro.  I think there
will be a story about this in a future issue of
Pacific Horticulture, if I can keep my promises to
Richard Turner, the editor.  Also in store for this
September, we will be touring Inga Hoffman's garden in
San Leandro under the auspices of the SF Bromeliad
Society, to see all her mature palms and wonderful
seed collected plants from South America, and her new
passion, bromeliads!

This is one of the great advantages of living here in
the San Francisco Bay Area; there are so many great
designers and horticulturists in the area, and we
actually live close enough that we can easily visit. 
Plus it is an honor to have the company of great
luminaries such as Ruth Bancroft herself, who actually
joined us for a tour of all the gardens on the most
recent Hortisexuals Garden Tour, and must be at least
99 years of age!

Best,
David Feix
--- Cali Doxiadis <gastouri@ker.forthnet.gr> wrote:

> Thank you, David...that's it!  Now that I know what
> it is I can read it 
> clearly.
> As far as frost goes, it should take its chances,
> since the spaces I have in 
> mind for it are open, so not very protected.  One of
> the paradoxes faced in 
> many mediterranean gardens is that protection from
> frost means low exposure 
> to sun, when it's the sun-loving plants that need
> the frost protection....
> Will you be coming to Greece again?  I remember the
> Blenkinships in Cretre 
> talking about your visit a few years ago?
> Cali
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "david feix" <davidfeix@yahoo.com>
> To: <gastouri@ker.forthnet.gr>; "MEDITERRANEAN
> PLANTS" 
> <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 9:51 AM
> Subject: Re: Name of Agave like plant
> 
> 
> > Furcraea?  Most are not that hardy, so protect
> from
> > frost.
> > --- Cali Doxiadis <gastouri@ker.forthnet.gr>
> wrote:
> >
> >> Last Fall, on a visit to Serre de la Madonne on
> the
> >> Riviera, I was given some tiny rosettes produced
> in
> >> large quantities by an Agave like succulent. 
> They
> >> are growing well in pots here now, but the name,
> >> which I'd written in pencil on the paper bag
> >> containing them is no longer readable.  The first
> 3
> >> letters look like FUZ, though that's only a
> guess.
> >> Any ideas?
> >>
> >> Cali Doxiadis
> >> Corfu, Greece
> > 
> 
>
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