Snow, snow. Quick, quick snow
Snow. Sun. Thaw. More snow. And that was just before lunch. Dodging the flurries, planting continues in the gardens of our Abruzzo villas for two.
It's a trade-off. When it snows, it's scenic. But it doesn't do too much for the garden – especially when the apricot and peaches had been lulled into a sense of false security by temperatures in the mid-60s last week and started flowering.
And of course sod's law dictated that while snow flurries whirled merrily up the drive, the last-but-one consignment of mail-order plants arrived.
It's a strange thing with some Italian delivery drivers. Give them clear skies and warm sunshine and they'll find endless excuses for ignoring you. But the first flake of snow inspires a kind of mass Pony Express mentality that sees them battling through the elements to bring you a package that's been sitting in the back of their van for a week.
It snowed. Then the sun came out and melted it. Then it snowed again and the cycle's been going on like this for about a week, while I've been dashing out in the sunny intervals to finish off the garden.
The picture on the left was taken at about 7 in the morning. By noon, the snow had gone. Down at the bottom of the garden, the pool's still under wraps (and will remain so until the end of next month).
The trees in the foreground are a couple of our new magnolias, which in the summer have fragrant white flowers the size of dinner plates.
The garden's now about 90% finished and all it has to do now is grow. We'll finish the remaining 10% in the autumn.
Last job to be done now is to sow the grass seed, which'll be done sometime in April. Putting the cart before the horse, I've already bought the mower.
All the autumn and winter tree, shrub and rose plantings seem to have come safely through. But we've had one casualty.
Or rather two, because the bouganvilleas that grew outside Villa La Majelletta and our own front door decided that 1200 feet up was rather beyond their tolerance.
Faintly surprising, because just down the hill, bouganvilleas grow with exhuberance. And having planted them last spring – and had a wonderful display all last summer – we thought they'd come through what until now's been an exceptionally mild winter.
We're auditioning replacements.
Maybe I should head up into the Majella National Park and see what grows in the villages there.
On the left of the picture – is how the natural feature known as il anfiteatro – the amphitheatre – looked like from the top of our drive last weekend.
At the far right of the picture, peering over the top of neighbouring mountains, is the snow-capped summit of Monte Acquaviva – one of the three Majella National Park peaks after which we've named our our Abruzzo villas for two.
Snow cover on the heights of the Majella persists until late May/early June – but these are also the best months for mountain walking. Fantastic scenery and banks of alpine flowers.
ps. Sun's out again !
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