How to stop buying plants......

These pictures show a happy holiday !
Beautiful flowers and plants there Spritz :)

A holiday wouldn't be a holiday without a visit to a garden centre would it :o)
I'm glad you enjoyed.

i agree hywel lol, it all looks beautifull babara, i love the agave plants, is that euro`s there, expensive if so, glad you enjoyed it :o))

Im glad you had a nice holiday Spritz.Its really hard avoiding garden centres no matter where you are! Those cacti are Opuntia species and the palm is a sago palm, Cycas revoluta.I hope you dont mind me showing off-this is what happens when you work at Kew!
That passiflora really is beautiful, and would'nt it be great if we could grow citrus fruit outside in this country.

How hard was it to leave them behind?
or did you bring some back hehehe

x x x

Sounds like you've had the best of both worlds B. Great weather and flowery things. Lol :~))

Ha ha Only you could book a holiday near a garden centre Spritz.....I love it.. But it is lovely to see the different types of plants that do well in other countries. Thanks for sharing your holiday.........

Looks a beautiful place to relax and what better way to relax than a wander round a GC. What a wonderful balcony in the village.

Thanks for a great blog Spritz. So glad you had a nice holiday.

Welcome back spritz - hope you had a great holiday.
I've just had a few days in France too (got back about 5 hours ago) so there may be a blog in a few days once I've gone through the holiday pics

Thanks, folks!! Yes, it was a wonderful week. :-))

Thanks, Robert - I forgot to take a pen and paper to note the names down - so that's a help.

Yes, that's euros...not everything was as expensive, though.

'Lago di Maggiore' is the place to go for special gardens....watch this space! I would have loved to have bought a couple of plants, but I don't think the airline would have been too happy...and they would just die in the UK winter, anyway. :-((

you must have missed us andrew , only 5 hours home, lol hope you had a good trip to :o)

Welcome home Spritz...love the blog...glad you enjoyed your holiday....:>)

Lovely pictures Spritzhenry - that plumbago is a beautiful colour.

Loved your photos pleased you enjoyed your holiday.

Lovely blog Barbara...sounds like a fab holiday surrounded by beautiful flowers! That Passion Flower doesn't look real!!

Beautiful plants and lovely blog, but you did nt say if you had bought any back :D lol ,you said they were too tender for the climate back here, the passiflora would of survived here as long as you bought it in during winter time, some are quite hardy.There are some which will go down to 7 degress below freezing.

No - the airline wouldn't have allowed me to bring any back, so I managed to resist temptation. The Passiflora was growing up the pillar in the square, it wasn't for sale. :-((

welcome home and thanks for sharing your lovely holiday views.

You could of taken a cutting he he

Lovely photographs Spritz and that is a fabulous view,you might not have been able to bring any home with you but think of the fun you`ll have trying to find them here,theres bound to be one or two you can grow at home.........

Welcome home Spritz, what a magnificent view, lucky you, at least you went at the right time of year, regarding the garden!!
We are growing the mandevilla which we bought in France over a year ago, it has flowered since then, will post a picture its beautiful now.

Lovely pics, Welcome home Spritz!

Wondeful Pics Spritz it looks Gorgeous there & u didnt buy any Plants what a Achivement hey? :) lol

You could write the shortest blog on the site -
Why to stop buying plants............

LOL. No idea what to say in it, Wagger!

Dd - is it outdoors?? I shall be green with envy, you realise!

I could live in those places you photographed. Beautiful pictures and a great read! I have a really thick passion flower vine - alas, cannot get it to bloom, YET!

Thanks, Hmhb - and welcome to GOY!! I agree - Lake Maggiore is just so beautiful....we'll be going back, that's for sure!

Do you know what colour Passion Flower you have?

wouldnt mind going myself, looks stunning, think i`ll look it up and browse some pic :o)

I'll send you a PM with where we stayed, Sandra.

got it barbara thanx :o)

I keep it outdoors all spring and summer then bring it i for the winter............too windy to photograph today....

Lovely pics Barbara and Hywel has it right back at the top, you have to visit a garden centre on holiday even if you can't buy anything! What a beautiful place for a holiday.

Interesting to see what's growing and on sale in other countries :o)

It certainly is, Tt! The latin names helped a lot - my Italian definitely isn't up to plant names!

Spritz have posted my picture.

Glad you had a good holiday Spritz..pity you couldn't sneak anything back. I have a red mandevilla growing up the conservatory wall :))

Dd - Where? where? Can't find it!

Alice - stop it - I am even greener with envy now!

lol

glad you had a good holiday Spritz, those plants are amazing, wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to grow some of them outdoors. The garden centre looks very inviting, I don't think I could have resisted either :)

Thanks, Grindle! Yes, I love the Mandevilla, and drool over Bougainvillea - I imagine that draped over the stream wall! Plumbago, too. Aaaahhhh!!! :-))

:)))))))))) wouldn't that be something

Yeeeesssssssss.......but I suppose, thinking about it, would I appreciate the Italian ones as much, then, if I had them at home??

Answer - YES of course I would! I WANT...and can't have. :-(((((

Spritz it is on my pictures, can you not see it....its says For Spritz!!!!!

Got it now, Dd! I was looking at your later photos - doh! Sorry....it is a stunner, all right. :-)))

I have a plumbago too Spritz....it is a beautiful blue :)))))))
Sorry....don't want to rub your nose in it.............lol....

Aaaaaarrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!!!

(whispering)..... I have a plumbago too LOL

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

You should be able to grow plumbago shouldn't you Barbara? I've got one too.... x-)

I know how you feel tho, walking around a garden centre in a foreign country - funny feeling! When I was in Bankok last year I went to a plant market that is held every week - OH! SUCH FUN! And if I had been able to take plants home with me, I would have chucked my clothes away and taken a suitcase full of plants back with me!! So many orchids!! And so cheap compared with what we are used to! You could buy a whole box of orchid plants for the equivilent of a couple of quid. There were Dicksonias and cacti and I got into discussion with a lovely Thai lady who luckily spoke good English - she had a business just outside of Bankok selling........oh I forget the species now....tree like things with big flowers....ah well....but she was showing me plants she had bred herself - new varieties - there were so many colours and shapes! She was a real expert. Honesty Barbara, I was like a kid in a sweet shop! Anyway, rambling on LOL

I think they're a bit tender, though, Sid - am I right? Is yours in a pot??

I was completely bowled over by the white Mandevilla, though. Just gorgeous! I don't think they had one for sale, now I come to think about it. Just a growing one in the display.

Are we talking about the sub-shrub with sky blue flowers now and reddish autumn foliage? I don't this is particularly hardy, but it survive last winter in my garden, which was a bad one.....I think you should give it a try! Do you have a warm spot at the base of a wall perhaps? Mine's by a fence and flowering quite well now.

Nope - no more space facing South or West! I shall be out looking , now, just in case I could...err...squeeze one in. I thought they were climbers, Sid?

Well, I'm not sure really....I see one on my way up to work from the carpark and that is rambling through a hedge and looking VERY pretty! Mine on the other hand is only about a foot tall. I think it might be a wall-shrub type thingy....tell you where you could put it - just outside the door of your new greenhouse in the gravel :-)

I wish, Sid! The space has to be kept clear for the mower to get through....I shall read up on Plumbagos and Mandevillas...:-))

I was sent some Mandevilla seeds last year as part of a seed swap - wasn't sure what they were at the time and was running out of space, so didn't sow them. Wish I had now! Hopefully the seed will still be good for spring.

Dottydaisy has a pink one...she posted a photo of it for me! Amblealice has a red one........I wonder what colour yours will be (eventually!)

Oh, no idea! I thought they only came in white!

Well, we live and learn, don''t we! :-))