Flora and Fauna with Capability Miguel

Lataste's viper	Since one of our regular contributors, Foxy, told us about a snake…right in the heart of the pueblo…we thought we’d allay your fears about these beautiful native creatures. In our experience snakes are quite common out in the campo but pretty rare in the town itself. And although we are not going to get too scientific about this, there are 13 different species of snake present in Spain of which only five are venomous including those of the viper family. Pictured is the Snub-nosed or Lataste's viper (Viborade lataste - vibora hocicuda), which is not one to tread on and seeing that this timid snake lives in dry rocky areas away from human habitation it is unlikely that you’ll come across it unless you go sticking your hands in holes and crevices or root around when collecting firewood. This is how most people get bitten and their bites can be fatal. In SMdS you'd definitely be at risk whilst 'scrumping' citrus fruits!
But let’s keep things in perspective…of an estimated 50 snakebite deaths a year in the whole of Europe, only 3-6 of these occur in Spain so there’s no reason for real concern: If you are unlucky and get bitten by a snake, remain calm and seek medical attention immediately. People are only bitten in the spring and summer, as vipers hibernate. For the vast majority of cases, the bite is no worse than a severe bee sting. I have only twice in 5 years had to capture a snake that had come onto my patch…I simply picked him up with a garden rake, popped him into a black plastic bag and released him back into the wilderness…it was a bit scary and I had to keep shaking the critter to the bottom of the bag. But they are a marvel of nature and habit, beautiful to watch… and that’s why we probably have an innate fear of them. Good hunting.

April - You can read my rough guide further down the page, but as April arrives I wanted to tell you, and show you, how planting flowering shrubs can bring splashes of colour and what a great investment they are in any sized garden. Pictured (l-r) above is the tough Metrosideros Excelsus, with its striking red colour coming from the long stamens; the Rhaphiolepis with its small leathery leaves and loose terminal clusters of white thru pink flowers; and the Polygala myrtifolia with an almost permanent year-round show of sweet pea like flowers. The great thing about shrubs is the fact that, with a proper watering system, they are extremely low maintenance. The Rhaphiolepis is slow growing and shouldn't need pruning but the other two can be pruned to shape according to the space available. With my other absolute favourite - Eupatorium Purpureum, pictured below, the bees are having a 'bean-feast' and in the true spirit of eco-balance the swallows and bee-eaters have just arrived in the pueblo to join the party. It's also that time to clean up and plant up those tubs...don't over plant them, leaving space for the plants to spread out. Colours must be personal choice: I prefer keeping within my own colour scheme rather than going too random.

The Processional Caterpillar - Thaumatopoca pityocampa – is considered the second most destructive pine tree plague after forest fires and if you are walking in the Campo around San Miguel de Salinas you should be aware of their silky nests, home to around 100 caterpillars, that hang amongst the branches of the pines and can cause havoc to pets and humans between February to July. The caterpillar has a black skin and head, red hairs along its back, and grey hairs along its sides. In the evenings they move out from their nest in a processional formation later returning to the nest. Contact with their irritant hairs, which are capable of liberating proteins, called taumatopein that can cause acute histamine release resulting in a violent allergic reactions around the mouth, eyes and tongue of their victims. The onset is always sudden and requires immediate attention that would require immediate medical attention.	courtesy of www.sentierinatura.it
Mimosa, thyme, euphorbia and pine - pictures taken in the Campo around San Miguel de Salinas in March

There is always a moment when you have to disclose a little secret to website visitors and this is one...I am very happy with my Spanish garden but the longer I live in this climate and however often I visit our Spanish Garden Centres a trip back to the UK in April can seriously question your decision - when it comes to the garden that is! I always bury two plants deep within my suitcase to bring something a bit unattainable to my son's garden...this time an Araucaria Heterophiylla - The Norfolk Island Pine and another Phoenix Palm. Of course they were both suitcase-sized. All the deciduous trees and hedgerows were bursting with leaf and everything was so green. My obligatory visit to a UK Garden Centre, which, without claim, was probably a contender for the 'Biggest on the Planet', Summerhill in Essex, gave me so much choice I could barely contain myself. I did find a fabulous 'Spurge' - Euphorbia Silver Swan - and knowing that this genus grows wild in the Campo around San Miguel I had to have it. But there were at least eight other varieties...what was I to do. And then I saw a Ceanothus 'Zanzibar' with its bright green foliage with a dark green central eye in the leaf.  That would be my second choice for the homeward suitcase. At check-out, near the Cafe, I was offered a logo-covered polythene carboot liner, probably because my son was also buying. So what's all this about. I'll tell you...the week reminded me that in Spain there's little green, there's no choice, there's no cafe and there's absolutely no polythene carboot liner. But then the Spanish aren't gardeners they are farmers! Here's the consolation... you don't get a Swallowtail on your Eupatorium Purpureum , that's Joe Pye Weed to you, until you get home to Spain!

For us Northern Europeans this subject takes on a whole new meaning in this Mediterranean climate. It's certainly a bit different from those heady days when I had Award Winning Gardens in the Newquay in Bloom Annual Competition. So, if you are new to gardening, please look at the way our Spanish neighbours do it before you embark on grandiose schemes, I certainly did! Our Life outdoors makes the garden 'the largest room of the house'; in fact our Spanish neighbours usually have an outside kitchen. As with the inside rooms of your home you need to create comfortable surroundings and ambience. Outside this means shade, water, and a colour scheme. 'We didn't come here to do cleaning', (well that's what the Misses says), and so it's low maintenance too!

Lancelot Brown (1716 - 1783)

Here's my Rough Guide with a few of my tips:· Besides being the envy of your visitors and that romantic notion of being able to pop out and pick a lemon for that Gin and Tonic, fruit trees - oranges, lemons, fig, almonds and pomegranate can be a 'pain in the neck' in a domestic non-Spanish garden. They need spraying regularly and their lax habit is not really suitable for most gardens. An elderly Olive tree is perhaps an exception, but don't think you can just pop out again for a bowl-full to have with that G&T because they need brine soaking and curing. I don't have a single thing that has edible fruit in my new garden: the neighbour's Kumquats, a compact tree with those tiny bitter orange fruit, do make fabulous marmalade though! There's always a place for Palms, but they do not have any particular seasonal interest. They are structural plants though and will create quite a screen. My structural plants are all deciduous (or semi) trees, Albizzia Julibrissin, the Silk Tree Mimosa; Bauhinia Purpurea, the Purple Orchid Tree; Chorisia Speciosa, a pink Floss Silk Tree; Lagerstroemia Indica. The Crape Myrtle; Cercis Siliguastrum, the Judas Tree and Schefflera Actinophylla, the Queensland Octopus or Umbrella Tree: there are few days in the year when one is not in flower. Climbers like Bougainvilleas, Bignonia, Plumbago, Stephanotis, and Honey Suckle create fabulous splashes of colour and heady scents for most of summer months and are ideal for growing against walls. But they need to be pruned savagely in the winter (well what we have of one!). Don't be afraid of that word 'savage', all established plants like it, they flower lower, it makes them stronger, and they don't take over and become a display for your neighbours! For the new Garden, a blank canvas, what a dream! The Builders, 'bless them', have left you an inch of topsoil covering their rubbish haven't they! Before you rush out and have an instant garden delivered (please don't do that!) see where the sun is at different times. Where are you going to sit? Do you want to create privacy? When you have answered these important questions it's time to plan your garden. Your scheme is best started with structure, that's trees, then work down: and colour, I have absolutely no yellow in my garden, although nature occasionally imports some! Don't over plant, better to make that great investment with a few spectacular specimens, than create a mishmash of jumble and jungle I buy all my plants on this basis - I see something, I like it, it goes with my scheme, and I've just gotta have it! This way you see the plant in its flowering season and a few questions or a good book will tell you all! Please don't expect too much information from our local Garden Centres, we are the gardeners - they are the farmers with a Garden Centre, and I say that in the nicest possible way - plant names can be wrong or vague! It took me three years to find a Melaleuca: I have wanted Melaleuca Nesophila but this different variety M.Gibbosa is the nearest I could get. Black agricultural plastic sheet, a water system, coloured gravel, and compost is now the order of the day. First clear away any obvious bricks, empty sardine cans and plastic then lay the water pipe around the garden in a loop, roughly in the areas where you intend to plant, ending up at the outside water tap. Position your structural plants (see planting below), and then lay the black plastic and cover with gravel about 3 inches thick: you can easily get this from a builders merchant. Planting - besides water, plants need nutrients and as most are container grown their root balls will have become tight, making it difficult for the roots to spread out and find food and, also, anchor the plant to the ground. Tease the roots out of the ball and soak the exposed root ball in a bucket of water during the next stage. Pull back the gravel and cut a cross in the plastic large enough to dig a planting hole at least twice the size of the pot. I always dispose of the stuff I dig out - it's full of harm. Pop in the plant turning it to show off its best side and infill with compost - substrado, making sure the plant stem is level with the ground. If it's a small tree make sure you stake it for the first couple of years. Now attach a dripper to the nearby water loop. Lay the plastic back to the stem and rake back the gravel. A bucket of water every other day for a week gives the plant a good start - now you just have to stand back and wait!

Capability Brown as we always refer to him, is the father of English Landscape Gardening. He designed the gardens of the Landed Gentry and created some of England's finest parks, including Kew Gardens in London, Blenheim Palace, Warwick Castle and many others that are now managed by The National Trust. His nickname 'Capability' came of his own devising; he would tell clients that their gardens had 'capability' meaning 'possibilities' or 'potential'. Lancelot Brown described himself as a 'place-maker', not a 'landscape gardener', a term only understood as a trade in the late 19th Century. By 1980 he was recognized as a genius of design, but this was based on his results, as his true imagination was never seen on planting only later in maturity. Cercis Siliguastrum The Judas Tree- April And my golden rule for the garden - you can actually do whatever you want, express yourself, be wacky, don't be frightened of trying something different - like this mosaic I did recently. I'm never quite sure, with some of my projects, whether people are envious or view me with ridicule, but then I don't really care either way, I didn't undertake the experiment for them anyway! Have fun! I will be adding to this page with tips and advice as the site progresses. My first recommended plant -Look out for a 'must have' addition! - Anigozanthos - Kangaroo Paw.

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