Un Piccolo Giardino nella Citta*

*That's a close as I can come to a translation of a PBS programme - A Small City Garden - I use to watch every Saturday morning about 15 years ago. A clenched jawed Boston matron, Thalasa Caruso if memory serves because a Google search doesn't, dished out advise on how to make your little corner of urbana green and floral.

When I look at EvilGnome's gardening pictures I get a real twinge of regret that we left our beauitful but large garden behind. About this time of the year - even before the snow had completely gone - the wonderful smell of regeneration was in the air. I knew it would mean a great deal of work in the days ahead but it also meant a great deal of pleasure.

Well that's in the past and I'm now tending a 6' by 20" blue-tiled balcony pot garden four floors up. I guess the nice thing is that garden clean up took about an hour today and most of that was spent sweeping up the dirt left behind by the heavy rains and city pollution. That and attempting not to send dust and debris floating down onto the Fascist Grouch's balcony below - if our upstairs neighbours do it that's okay they're Italian but we are stranari (foreigners)and uomosexuale and since the Fascists are now in power ...
There is still a good deal of pleasure in seeing plants that had been dormant over the winter break into leaf. And even in my pot garden, as so often happened in the past, I am finding things that I don't recall being there last fall.
While digging around in one of the jasmine pots I came across what looked like a clump of clover that had hitched a ride from somewhere. A bit of research suggests that since it is springing from a bulb it is probably a type of woodland sorrel. Whatever it is I've put it in a pot - every little bit of green helps!
The day lily, which had its last blooms in early November, has already sent out four flower stalks and seems to have its share of hitchhikers. As well as a very health ivy, a slender tendril festooned with round leaves and tiny snapdragon-like blossoms has made an unexpected appearance. The flowers have a faint purple throat with a splash of yellow and are half the size they appear in the enbiggened photo.
I've never been very good at remembering the names of plants but given the fragrance and the appearance of the flowers I would say this is either jasmine of some type or frangipani. Can anyone tell from looking at the pictures? There is a massive bed of them below us and even four stories up we get the incredible scent.The only thing that appearance to have been lost over the winter - and yes we get winter here - was the hibiscus but I'll just wait and see. Meanwhile the cascading plant around it - again be damned if I know the name - is sending out delicate white flowers, individually and in clumps.

I've just noticed that our ground floor neighbour - a charming lady - and her two boys have been out raking the leaves in their garden and the maintenance staff have been cutting the grass. Two less things I have to do in my piccolo giardino - hmmm that twinge of regret is getting less and less noticeable.

01 maggio - San Guiseppe di Antioch