Spring on the Costa del Sol and western Mediterranean is a fine time for the gardener to enjoy creating a colourful outside space.
Tempting plants are on sale and the desire for instant colour in the garden can be satisfied with a visit to the local garden centre.
For the beginner gardener though it can be a bit daunting when deciding what to buy and where to put a particular plant. The summer heat on the Costa del Sol is not kind to many plants so they tend to look good and bloom from early spring until early summer. During this time they give the garden a fabulous show of colour and make it a pleasant place to be.
Below is further selection of plants that will bring the garden to life. Some are perennials and others are annuals that will self seed to reappear the following spring.
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Not at all difficult for the beginner gardener is the evergreen shrimp plant with its white and pinkish shrimp like blooms! It tends to take care of itself and will flower in the spring and early summer with minimal summer watering. It needs a minimum temperature of 10 degrees and if happy will grow to around one metre high. See photo.
Dianthus is a genus of evergreen plant that includes well known varieties from upright carnations to trailing pinks. They are perfect for a hot sunny garden and will bloom throughout the spring to early summer.
Carnations can be grown from seed or cuttings but nurseries will have good sized young plants from late February. They are undemanding but the taller variety needs support and all love full sun. see photo
Seeds sown in the autumn will flower from early spring onwards. However by the end of February nurseries have pots of this heavily scented plant ready for planting out. One can find stocks of the annual, biennial and perennial variety. They come in a variety of colours and grow well in containers too. Try to plant where you can get close enough to enjoy their scent – raised beds or at the side of steps for example.
These plants are often seen as cut blooms with their cup like open blooms. However, easily grown in the garden they will bring wonderful exotic colour in the early spring.
Plant corms in mid autumn – maybe in pots so that mice can’t easily get at them or buy young plants ready for planting out at the end of February. They enjoy full sun and will die down with the summer heat, reappearing the following spring. See photo.
There are many varieties of geranium and they are probably the most well known plant on the Mediterranean They do well in the soil, containers and baskets and nurseries have then on sale for most of the year. The ivy leafed and zonal varieties are the most hardy – see photos.
The regal geranium which has a more shrub like structure. It is more delicate and nurseries have them on sale from mid-spring. They have stiffer more deeply serrated leaves with generally vibrant and exotic looser blooms that suffer in the rain. However, with some tender loving care an older and established plant will acclimatize itself to the garden and tolerate rain, wind and sun. It’s worth trying a few cuttings of this variety at the end of the summer, keeping them in a sheltered spot.
On the Costa del Sol a moth attacks geraniums during the spring and summer so they should be sprayed weekly to avoid the plant rotting and dying, with the appropriate insecticide.
These happy flowers loved by children are easily grown by scattering a packet of seeds that germinate very quickly. Some grow up to 2 metres or even a little more! They will brighten up any sunny corner of the garden and by self seeding will come reappear year after year.
Fields full of these glorious sunflowers can be seen in southern Spain during the Spring and are used for oil production.
Annuals of all varieties can be bought ready for planting out during January and February. Buzy lizzies, pansies, calendulas, petunias, nasturtiums, lobelia, are just a selection. They will naturally die down when the summer heat arrives with some self seeding for the following year. Any beginner gardener will be able to create an inviting and colourful spring garden.
Making the Most of a Warm Spring in a Mediterranean GardenOnce spring arrives and the days get longer on the Costa del Sol and western Mediterranean beginner gardeners can begin to plan and plant-up their garden There is another selection of plants that will make a colourful spring garden. All are undemanding and easy for the beginner gardener.
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