When in Rome do as the Romans do or so they say, however, for my birthday I chose instead to go to see the garden of Villa D'Este in Tivoli, a UNESCO heritage site.
Being English I love gardens, all gardens, small or large, no matter what they look like, what type they are, they could be anything from the walled Rose Garden at Winston Churchill's family home at "Chartwell" now a National Trust property to Vita Sackville West's white garden in Sissinghurst.
I got married in a garden, my sister's garden in Mickleham, Surrey. The garden had the most amazing views of the Surrey Downs and for my table flower displays I used purple hydrangeas, figs and vine leaves that I picked from the garden, it looked romantic and very English country garden.
Cottage gardens seem to be my favourite, there is something I seem to love about the erratic and eccentric displays of all these flowers that suddenly explode into a profusion of ecletic colours a bit like the mixed up workings of my mind at times! I love the tall, regal Hollyhocks which grow right up into the sky, the bright bold colours of blue and purple delphiniums, glorious foxgloves which look like bells, pink crimson camellias, deep blood red dahlias and tall spikey purple alliums although technically I don't think these are all classed as cottage garden plants I love them all the same.
So far I haven't seen many gardens in Italy as most people here live in flats but never the less everyone here loves gardens and make the most of their balconies, for example I have growing on mine rosemary, salvia, mint, basil and thyme all of which I have used for cooking. You have only to look at the photos of the garden of Villa D'Este to see the majestical triumph of this garden in all its glory, it is truly magical.
Here in sunny Italy all local DIY stores and garden centres have their plants out on show, mainly gorgeous red geraniums, I love their unusual perfume. Small baby olive trees though sadly many of the one's in the olive groves are now diseased and being cut down. Of course there are also beautiful lemon trees for sale, the perfume is sweet, heavenly and heady so hence the name of this blog which I struggled to find but as I love the lemon trees over here it seemed appropriate. I have seen so many beautiful lemon trees here they seem to pop up out of nowhere and smell divine. I have yet to buy one for my balcony but I will how could I not? So far I have resisted the urge to pick one although I have been sorely tempted unlike my sister Simone who when she visited me last month succumbed to the temptation when we went to Sermonetta, a small mediaeval village (we should have called her Eve even though it was a lemon and not an apple!) it culminated with a note being left on my car window calling us Mozzarella peasants! But more about that trip later.......
A few more images below of Villa D'Este and a local restaurant where we had a fantastic lunch of seabass followed by strawberries in lemon.......
Local restaurant in Tivoli
View below from Broom Parc in Veryan, Cornwall Englan, a National Trust B&B property which had a very mediterranean feel to it
Lower Slaughter Manor Hotel, a typical Cotsworld garden in England
Images of my higgeldy piggeldy garden in England with Rosemary, Grape hyacinth, Alliums, Rhubarb and Hollyhock..........
