Page 46 - Spanish Insight - October 2019

By Lorraine Cavanagh, Viveros Florena, Competa, Malaga.
Lorraine Cavanagh is the author of the best-selling Plants are outside in the sun, wind and rain – just like Weekly bio food and health market on Wednesday
Mediterranean Garden Plants and Citrus, The Zest of in your garden! They’re well- loved but toughened and mornings.
Life. Lorraine has lived in Spain for 32 years and is a acclimatized to life in the hills. Catch our larger Spring and Winter Markets too!
mother, grandmother and hispanófila. Her passions This is a Mecca for plant-lovers, an Aladdin’s Cave Summer Hours:
are plants, the environment, Spain, food and drink, of plants - and Lorraine and her team are always on June, July, September, 9 – 2.
and travel. She runs, with her team, a very special hand to give loads of free advice and help in plant (Closed for the month of August)
garden centre – Viveros Florena - near Cómpeta, selection. Come and have a chat over a free coffee in Winter Hours: October to May, 10 – 4.
(Malaga), 2 km from the village down the Sayalonga their delightful patio area. Landscaping and Advisory We are always closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Road or 15 km up from the coastal motorway. First Service. Delivery within Local Area. Tel: 689928201
impressions are stylish – the place oozes “relax”. This Stockists of Organic Products and Neem oil, English E-mail: florenaspain@hotmail.com
is far from the conventional garden centre – plants Roses, a Rainbow of Irises, Trees, Shrubs, Bedding, Web: www.viverosflorena.com
are attractively arranged in a rustic setting of wood, Herbs, Fruits, Veg, Rare Citrus, Pots, Composts, Gift See us also on Facebook – Lorraine Cavanagh’s
bamboo, gravel, stone and cane. It’s a place with great Vouchers, Soap Nut Products, Shabby Shed Shop Garden Centre.
attitude, innovative ideas and, above all, personality. and lots, lots more …… "There are no Flies...
only Foreigners!"
MEdITERRANEAN GARdENING by Lorraine Cavanagh of Viveros Florena, Cómpeta, Málaga
Gorgeous Grasses Cómpeta Wine Night Poster 1994 &

By Jim Lovelock
Lorraine Cavanagh
lower light levels of autumnal days make it is nothing less than spectacular and, a grass as it sounds with arching burgundy-
grasses glow. They look wonderful with because of its cloudlike appearance, it never purple foliage. The mid-vein is dramatically
low evening sun backlighting them and becomes overpowering. Try it in gravel, in wine-coloured and the margins are striped in
early morning, too, when they can be eye-catching swathes in borders, erupting red and hot pink. The flowers are burgundy,
spattered with glistening dew drops. out from between rocks, even as a swaying fading to a lovely foxy, tawny-red. To about
Here are a few of the best: soft hedge – it has so many uses. 1.5m high with a clumping 1m spread.
Eragrostis spectabilis, purple love grass is Happy with an occasional soaking during the
Muhlenbergia capillaris, pink muhly grass is great in colour and texture. In springtime summer. Hardy to about -5C
one of the prettiest, to my mind. My youngest mounds of blue-green blades emerge; in Leymus arenarius Blue Dune, blue Lyme
daughter, who loves all things pink, has fallen summer they are topped by clouds of rosy- grass. If you like super-cool and elegant good
completely under its spell and I think her pink/soft purple spikelets; in autumn the looks, this is the grass for you! Exceptionally
garden is about to disappear under a froth of leaves turn a deep bronze-red and the seeds beautiful, upright, steel-blue foliage contrasts
pink muhly grass! ripen to a soft beige. It revels in poor dry soil, amazingly with the straw-coloured stiff
The genus is named for the German-US spreading vigorous fibrous roots to stabilise flower spikes. A native of Western Europe, it
botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, soil and reaching around 50cm x 50cm. This grows on sand dunes and poor soil, a great
1753-1815. Many of the species are native is a plant that can even grow under walnut stabiliser. In damper situations it can become
to the southwest part of the U.S.; others trees – not many can do that! A native of a little invasive, spreading by underground
are native to Canada, Central and Southern the U. S. and naturalised in dry prairies and rhizomes. To 1m height and spread; hardy to
America and parts of Asia. The perennial sandy, gravelly roadsides. Hardy to -15C. A -25C
pink muhly thrives in high pasture land and purple haze of a grass.
prairies, and along edges of conifer stands Panicum virgatum Squaw, showy switchgrass. Remember that all of these grasses are better
and oak woods. Their soil requirements are This is a sturdy clumping grass with broad sited in full sun for best colouration and light
undemanding as long as they are not in upright blue-green leaves with masses of effects but will tolerate part shade too and
standing water. Position is also very flexible extremely showy wine-red inflorescences in they are great winter food sources for foraging
from full sun to part shade and with a wide summer, fading to autumnal straw-coloured birds. Try them mixed with clumps of colourful
temperature range, from -20C up to 40C, fluffiness. A native of North America, it is perennials such as verbena bonariensis,
you may be starting to realise that this is the unfussy about soil and becomes drought rudbeckia, coreopsis, hemerocalis and
perfect plant for you! Add in that it is disease tolerant, to 1m high x 0.60m wide and hardy gaillardia and they look fabulous with
resistant and just requires an annual pruning down to -25C echinacea purpurea or the sunset shades of
– or even just a rake through - and you could Pennisetum setaceum Fireworks, variegated echinacea Summer Colours.
be right! It is tolerant of dry weather, though is purple fountain grass. Fireworks is as exciting
improved by some water during the summer
months.
There are some definite pluses to planting a
grass like this. Because it is a quick grower,
it is a very good pioneer planting and, with its
wide-spreading roots, a good soil stabiliser.
Whilst quick, it is not aggressive. It attracts
ladybirds – one of the best friends of gardeners
– and makes excellent wildlife cover especially
for native small birds and mammals. It is saline
tolerant, so a great seaside planting. More
surprisingly it is chemical tolerant too, so
very useful in soil that has been depleted by
overuse of herbicides/insecticides. The roots
have the ability to act as biological filters.
The green basal grassy-type foliage can reach
almost 1m high and the flowering plumes up
to 2m high. It will quickly reach its mature
size of almost 1m across, when it can be lifted
and split, if required, during early springtime.
The end of summer into early autumn is when
it really starts to draw attention, erupting into
a mass of vibrant purple-pink billowy airy
flowers, gradually turning coppery coloured
as cooler autumn weather intensifies. Massed

46 Spanish Insight October 2019