Mediterranean Garden Plants

One must remember that in Italy we are dealing with an assortment of customs, climates, as well as peoples.  The 'old' Italy had a small aristocratic class that had palaces or apartments in the cities and country estates with 'classic' gardens tended by gardeners. 
 
The middle class was a small group and they and the peasants and workers generally did not have gardens as such.  Many lived in cities or villages with no garden whatsoever and some brightened up their lives with potted plants that could be tucked here and there in the available spaces.  Geraniums, hydrangeas, jasmine, roses, succulents and perhaps a few pots of herbs - basil, oregano, rosemary, sage - were among the favorites.
 
In the Po River valley in the north, Italy's bread basket, where the soil is rich, the gardens in the villages were, and still are, a mixture pf practical plants with a few flowers for the house or to put on shrines or to take to the deceased loved ones.  Here the gardens had dahlias, Ivy, roses, snap dragons, marigolds and other easy to grow flowers occupying a very small part.  There would be fruit trees, a pear, an apple, apricots, peaches and such sharing space with other practical plants such as grapes and the rest planted with vegetables.  The front gardens were mostly practical and supplied household food as well as flowers. 
 
In the south, where the climate is much warmer, the small gardens had fig trees for fruit and shade, jasmine for its overpowering scent, prickly pears and almonds. Sweet peas, the old fashilned kind with fragrance might entwine Banksia Lutea rose.  Carob trees also provide welcome shade and fruit for a cash crop.  Lemons and other citrus fruits are planted whereever the climate permits.  Hybiscus hedges grow in Sicily, as well as Plumbago.  Many imported plants 'feel' native.  Tomatoes were once grown as decorative garden plants. 
 
The rose 'Mutabilis' was introduced from the Isola Madre on Lago Maggiore and was very fashionable in the elegant gardens around the Alpine lakes in the early 1900s.
 
It is really since the 2nd World War that gardening as we know it has become common.  New houses are often built with modest gardens and Garden centers have suddenly sprung up everywhere.  The rose 'Queen Elizabeth' can be seen everywhere and green grass lawns have become popular.  We have gone global long before anyone used that word.
 
All the best,
Helene Pizzi      
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