LA DOUCE FRANCE : MONACO

The day we visited the tropical garden in Monaco (le jardin tropical de Monaco) was for me the most beautiful day of our holiday in France !!! This garden was built against the slopes of a mountain and what grows against mountains in a warm climate ???? right : cacti and succulents !!! It was magic as soon as we entered the garden, I didn’t know where to look first and what to photograph as I felt like a child in a sweet shop. There were cacti and succulents everywhere and then that environment !!! We had a look over the mediterranean sea and Monaco, it was breath-taking really !!!! It was also a perfect day for a visit to this garden, the sky was blue and the sea was blue and the sun was shining, what more can you want ???!!! I was overwhelmed but happy !

But please look for yourselves, I took loads of pictures to show to you.

THIS BEAUTIFUL TREE WAS AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE GARDEN, BEHIND THE TREE YOU CAN SEE A BIT OF THE SEA IN THE BACKGROUND

CEIBA INSIGNA SAID THE LABEL, I’VE NEVER SEEN A TREE LIKE THIS ONE, I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT IMEDIATLY

A VIEW OVER THE SEA FROM THE GARDEN, LOOK AT ALL THE YACHTS !

A BEAUTIFUL AGAVE

A CACTI STILL LIFE

A BUNCH OF AGAVE STRICTA

GOLDEN BARRELS, WE CALL THEM “MOTHER-IN-LAW’S CHAIRS”

GARDENS ON TOP OF THE APARTMENTS ARE EVERYWHERE

ON THE RIGHT SIGHT IN THE BACK YOU SEE A CEMETARY

LOOK AT THIS YUCCA STEM !!! IN THE BACK YOU SEE A BIG JADE PLANT AND SOME GOLDEN BARRELS

AGAVE VICTORIA REGINAE, ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AGAVES FOR ME

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL STEM !

A HUGE OPUNTIA, LOOK AT THIS STEM, IT TURNED INTO WOOD LIKE A REAL TREE STEM !!!

A THORNY EUPHORBIA IN BLOOM

SMALLER SUCCULENTS ARE PLANTED EVERYWHERE BETWEEN THE BIGGER PLANTS

ANOTHER EUPHORBIA

CHOLLA

PORTULACARIA’S WERE EVERY WHERE, EVEN N THE SHAPE OF HEDGES

OH IF ONLY THIS COULD BE MY GARDEN !!!!!!……….

A CRISTATA FORM

A CACTUS FRUIT AS BIG AS AN ORANGE

ANOTHER PRICKLY CRISTATA FORMED BEAUTY

A FEW OF THE BIG BOYS

A FEW LITTLE GEMS

WHY OH WHY CAN’T I GROW THIS IN MY GARDEN ???

AN ARCHE MADE OF PORTULACARIA

ANOTHER GARDEN ON TOP OF A FLAT

MORE ROOFGARDENS

LOOK AT THE STEM OF THIS JADE PLANT !!!

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS AS MUCH AS I DID ! In reality it looked a lot more beautiful than what I can show you here with my pictures ofcourse. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week !

AN EXPERIMENT

I have an old jade plant (crassula portulacea), a succulent, it is one of the easiest plants I know. Sometimes a piece of branch break off and I pot it up , in no time you have a new plant, you can even create a new plant just by planting a single leaf !!!. I’ve given soooo many to family , friends and clients but I kept a few for myself so that I could experiment with them, I am trying to make sort of bonsai shapes, keep them small, cos when you give them space they’ll grow quite large and become too heavy for me to carry. I put them outside in Summer and they love it but in Autumn it gets too cold and too wet so they have to come inside again.

THIS IS MUM, I DON’T KNOW HOW OLD SHE IS,WHEN I BOUGHT THIS PLANT IS WAS VERY SMALL, ONCE IN A WHILE I CUT SOME BRANCHES AWAY IN ORDER TO KEEP HER WEIGHT DOWN (I WISH I COULD DO THE SAME TO MYSELF !!) YOU CAN EVEN CUT ALL THE BRANCHES AWAY AND KEEP THE MAIN STEM, NEW GROWTH WILL SHOW IN A WEEKS TIME.

THESE ARE HER CHILDREN

ANOTHER VIEW

Have a great week all !!! thanks for stopping by !

NEWS FROM MY GARDEN

And here we are at the end of August and you can feel the warmth of the sun is not as it was in July and the days have become quite a bit shorter but the days are beautiful, in a weeks time the children go back to school. We know it is possible to get the first frost in September but it is also possible we get the first frost in November or December. Summer was short but nice, and September can be quite good. We still have our holiday in France to look forward too ! We are going to visit a lot of gardens, I’ll tell you all about it when I’m back, ok ?

Meanwhile in my garden all is well and I made some changes here and there and I am happy with it.

I PLACED A FEW MIRRORS IN THE NEW GARDEN, I AM PLANNING TO GIVE THEM A LIFE FRAME OF SMALL LEAVED IVY

HERE IS THE OTHER MIRROR AND I HAVE ROOM FOR MORE……

THESE BUTTERFLIES ARE CRAZY ABOUT THE BLOOMING SEDUMS AND I HAVE A LOT OF THEM IN THE GARDEN AT THE MOMENT

SEDUM SPECTABILIS

THIS IS ANOTHER SEDUM BUT I DON’T KNOW ITS NAME, IT WAS A GIFT FROM MY NEIGHBOUR

I FINALLY MANAGED TO TAKE A PICTURE OF ONE OF THE MANY FROGS THAT ARE LIVING IN THE GARDEN, THEY DON’T MAKE A LOT OF NOISE, ONLY A SOFT PRRR PRRR AND THEY LOVE OUR POND

THE WHITE LANTANA CAMARA IS ALSO POPULAR  AMONGST THE BEES AND BUTTERFLIES

ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLANTS : VERBENA BONARIENSIS, BLOOMS FOR A VERY LONG TIME AND GETS A LOT OF VISITORS

DAHLIA AND  WHITE ECHINACHEA

MY RESCUED AEONIUM IS THRIVING, IT DIDN’T LOOK GOOD WHEN I BOUGHT IT, I FELT SORRY FOR IT, IT WAS IN A TINY POT AND IT WAS ONLY 2 EURO’S (3 DOLLARS) FOR A BIG PLANT, IT COULDN’T EVEN STAND UP AS THE PLANT WAS FAR TOO HEAVY FOR THE small POT

FUCHSIA MAGELANICA , ONE OF THE EASIEST SHRUBS I KNOW AND VERY WINTERHARDY

FUCHSIA GARTENMEISTER BONDSTEDT

CLOSE UP OF THE GARTENMEISTER BONDSTEDT, THESE TYPE OF FUCHSIA’ WITH THE LONG NARROW FLOWERS NEED MORE WARMTH THAN THE OTHER FUCHSIA’S AND THEY LOVE A PLACE IN FULL SUN

ANOTHER VIEW IN THE MIRROR

LACE CAP HYDRANGEA AT THE POND

ANOTHER HYDRANGEA, NORMALLY THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN HALF DRY BY NOW BUT THEY STARTED BLOOMING VERY LATE THIS YEAR

HYDRANGYA AND THE FAST GROWING RUSSIAN VINE (polygonum aubertii)

AUCUBA JAPONICA AND ANEMONE JAPONICA WITH A FEW POTTED PLANTS IN THE FRONT

THE MOTHER OF ALL MY JADE PLANTS, CRASSULA portulacea OR MONEY PLANT

Have a great week all and enjoy your garden ! Thanks for visiting my blog, it is much appreciated !

TIP FOR THE NOT SO GREENTHUMBED

If you don’t have a green thumb and you want plants in your house I can strongly recommend you to try cacti and succulents, most of them are so easy to look after, you can use them inside your home or ouside in the garden or on your balcony.

One of the easiest plants is the jade plant, latin name : crassula portulacea

THIS IS A BIG ONE IN A POT OUTSIDE

THIS IS A PIECE OF STEM THAT FELL OFF ONE OF MY JADE PLANTS, IT LAY UNNOTICED UNDER A PLANTROLLER AND LOOK, IT GOT ROOTS, JUST LIKE THAT !NO WATER, NO SOIL FOR WEEKS AND WEEKS AND STILL IT GOT ROOTS !!!

YOU CAN CUT THE STEM A BIT SHORTER AND STICK IT IN SOME SOIL AND VOILA, A NEW PLANT, YOU EVEN CAN MAKE NEW PLANTS WITH JUST ONE LEAF, TAKE OFF A LEAF, PUT IT IN SOME GRID, GIVE IT ONLY A FEW DROPS OF WATER PER WEEK AND IN NO TIME YOU’LL SEE SMALL LEAVES APPEARING, SO YOU CAN PUT YOUR WHOLE HOUSE AND GARDEN FULL OF JADE PLANTS IF YOU WANT

THIS IS WHAT I USE TO WATER MY SMALL CACTI AND SUCCULENTS, IT’S AN ORDINARY SYRINGE, THIS WAY YOU DON’T OVERWATER THEM

You can ask a friend or a relative or a neigbour for some cuttings, I’m sure they’ll give it to you with pleasure !

Cacti are equally easy to care for, they even need less water but beware !! before you know it you’ll be hooked and want more and more and more…..

How to care for your jade plant:

Prefers half shade whether it is inside or outside

It is not frost resistant, so if you live in a country with cold Winters, take it in before the frosts, preferably by the end of September, for those who are fortunate enough to live in a frostfree country you can have your jade plants in-and outdoors whole year round. If you put your jade plant inside during Winter then put it in full shade  in Spring  (beginning of June)for about 2 weeks before you put it in half shade otherwise the leaves will get burned

Doesn’t need much fertilizer, if you give it new soil every Spring you don’t need to fertilize at all, even it you don’t fertilize it will still grow

Give it water once the soil is dry (when you lift the pot you can feel if the soil is dry cos the pot weighs less then when the soil is wet) but the jade plant can go without water for a long time, weeks, a few month’s even and it will be still alive, so you can go on holiday without worry, you give them a bit of water before you leave and you can go away for weeks, even if you forget to water them before you leave  they still will be ok when you return !

Soil : normal pottingsoil mixed with a bit of grid or sand, it will grow and thrive in normal soil too, no worries

Put some pebbles or bits of broken clay pots in the bottom and make sure it will not get wet feet.

To all of those who are afraid to kill a plant, go out and buy a jade plant or ask for a few cuttings, people will give it to you with great pleasure, also cuttings and pups from other succulents and cacti will be given to you with pleasure if you ask for it !So start experimenting with succulents !

Have a great day all and enjoy your garden and indoor plants ! Thanks for stopping by !

ps : I would love to hear from you whether you succeed or fail and you can always ask me for advice, it will be given with great plessure