Tuesday, June 15, 2010

garden bloggers' bloom day from Portugal



Day 15 here in Lisbon and we’ve done plenty of exploring. Not pictured here, but we’ve seen lots of oleander, gray santolina, bougainvillea (purple, pink, and orange-ish), and lantana (confetti, purple, and red-orange-yellow). Please visit Carol’s blog at May Dreams Gardens to see other blooms from all over the place! Sorry for not including botanical names but we have limited internet access, so I didn’t look them up.


huge variegated agave


green santolina


some variety of fuschia in the botanical garden (sorry I forgot to write down which kind)


familiar purple coneflower


cannas in another public garden


more agapanthus (They're all over Lisbon. Not complaining!)


unknown succulents at the huge cemetery


lively windowbox in Alfama neighborhood

14 comments:

joco said...

Hiya Iris,

Isn't it fun being able to explore new vegetation at one's leisure. I'm envious. Never spent more than a few hours in Portugal. Are the plants very different from your area in the US?

lotusleaf said...

Agapanthus are lovely!

Iris said...

joco--Yes, many of the plants here in Lisbon are the same as we have in Austin, Texas and surrounding areas. But Lisbon's pretty purple mimosa trees (previous post) probably wouldn't work in Austin because it's too hot and dry.

lotusleaf--I love agapanthus, especially Lisbon's huge ones!

Rock rose said...

One thing we noticed in Spain was how many familiar plants we saw. Many areas are just like our own, although it would be nice to have a Mediterranean climate. Glad your enjoying your stay.

Katie said...

SUPER cool idea! Love to see the pics from a completely different part of the WORLD.

That balcony is awesome.

Happy Bloom Day!

vertie said...

Thanks for the special bloom day! What about calla lilies? Saw those growing like weeds in Spain. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip when you get back.

Leslie said...

All the pictures are lovely!

Bird said...

I am glad you are enjoying your glorious location! We are truly suffering under oppressive humidity...but don't let that worry you. Please, resume having a wonderful time in such a lovely place. Sigh.

Iris said...

Lancashire rose--Yes, lots of familiar plants. And like you, I wish Austin shared the familiar weather!

Katie--Yep, we're glad we tried the apartment rental thing. Balcony views are fantastic! Location is central but maybe too noisy for some (especially now during World Cup soccer).

vertie--Saw a few callas but not many. Will share more when we return--thanks!

Neleh-- We ARE enjoying but will appreciate being home soon in the awful heat/humidity. Don't tell me anything yet about the finale of Breaking Bad...

Sylvana said...

I really am interested in that first picture. Do you know what the story behind the writing is?

Pam/Digging said...

The plant palette does look remarkably similar to Austin's. Hope you're having a great time!

But oh no, that poor graffitied agave.

Marc O. said...

My parents just got back from Germany, and your photos share some of that same old-world love of gardening with what I saw in the Germany photos - flower boxes everywhere, lots of public space gardening, etc.

That "unknown succulent" photo looks a lot like an aloe I had until it froze this year: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anole/2302754828/

Greenlife Nursery, Inc. said...

Your pictures are just awesome! It is so fun to travel thousands of miles from home and yet see some of the very same plants we grow in Texas and to discover new ones we have never seen.

The balcony photo was just magazine perfect! We want to see more.

Annie in Austin said...

The color of the apartment building with the balconies is just so beautiful.
I had to look up Lisbon because of you - now know it's one of the oldest cities in the world.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose