Garden News

Everything that I wanted to come through the winter has, some of it in rare good form.

The bonsai wisteria, one of seven that I grew from seed I collected in 2007, is still bonsai and flowering for all it is worth. The flower colours and other aspects differ among the seven; I wonder whether I might accidentally have selected for a non-climbing wisteria. That would be cool.

The white iris, rescued last summer from under a tree down by the orto abusivo on the rough ground, opened today too. Very welcome, with a promise of more buds to come. It's covered in aphids, which fortunately don't render on the photograph, and of course I can't find my soapy spray.

But the real beaut, the treasure I had dared not hope might survive, is the Chimonanthus. This is also from seed I collected, the only survivor from a few fruits worth snaffled from the gardens at the Villa Wolkonsky, residence of the British Ambassador to Rome. It was the silliest spindly twig last year, and I feared for its survival, but it seems to be doing just fine. This is another one I'll just have to wait for, and hope that I'm around to enjoy those gorgeously spicy blossoms in the dead of winter. Just a couple can fill a room.

Looking forward to the rest of it, but not to the prospect of first selecting and then moving plants to a much smaller terrace in a month or so. We shall see.