Gardenig in Spain. Tips & Guides

From slender and succulent to bouncy and vigorous, these plants that look like noodles and other tasty edibles will have your tummies growling with temptation! And they are distinct ornamentals that will quickly uplift your green decor. Let’s dive in!

Matt Armendariz

Header image: The Selenar Fungi team at the Large Diameter Centrifuge. Image credit: Selenar Fungi.

First cultivated in the Mediterranean region, saffron is, by weight, the most expensive spice in the world, and learning how to grow saffron at home means you’ll have plenty of this flavorful spice to use in your cooking. It comes from the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus. Considering the high price this spice fetches at market, you might be surprised to discover how easy it is to grow. In this article, I’ll provide a quick-and-simple low-down on how to grow saffron. How to grow saffron The fall-blooming, purple-flowered saffron crocus grows from a bulb-like structure called a corm. The corms a

Native to the Mediterranean, lavender is a hardy medicinal herb from the mint family, comprising over 30 species. This evergreen shrub is all the rage in gardening because its utility extends beyond good looks and amazing fragrance.

The topic of fruiting quince came up the other day when a friend shared just how productive his tree was shaping up to be this year. Everyone present enthusiastically chimed in with our own quince experiences, memories, and recipes. We all appeared to have had a grandmother with a quince growing in her garden, who would use the fall-gathered fruit for cooking, jellies, jams, to add oomph to apple pies and ciders, and for medicinal—sometimes even alcoholic—purposes! Though most varieties of quince need to be cooked to be enjoyed in our particular climate zone and are firm and astringent at harvest time, this fruit has an avid fan club and is adored for many reasons.

Espresso martinis have dominated drink menus for several years now, but a new coffee cocktail might be challenging their spot at the top of the happy hour list. Carajillos have arrived on the scene, and they’re a simpler, smaller-sized cousin of espresso martinis (tiny cocktails, anyone?). Made with just two ingredients, this espresso-based cocktail is just as tasty as an espresso martini, but much easier to recreate at home.

Even though pineapples are considered a fruit (and a fruit generally comes from trees—unless it’s a berry), pineapples actually grow on a plant close to the ground. Each pineapple plant bears exactly one pineapple. So where did pineapple come from in the first place?

Courtesy of Magnolia

Lavender is a Mediterranean evergreen shrub, grown for its fragrant leaves and bee-friendly flowers. There are hardy, half-hardy and tender species of lavender to choose from.

On the banks of the Hudson River in Troy, NY, there’s an unassuming forest-green building, tucked between a used-car lot and towing business. This refurbished auto-body shop fits right into the neighborhood of commercial buildings. There are no open fields or garden beds thick with produce. But step inside and everything changes. You’ve found Collar City Mushrooms. 

Hi GPODers! Today we’re in Sharon Holmes’ Dallas garden that faces its fair share of obstacles and challenging conditions. Despite punishing weather, clay soil, and a whole host of wildlife and insects that visit her garden, there are plenty of plants that have survived and even thrived.

Perched above Los Angeles in the Mount Washington neighborhood is a home that rivals Barbie’s Dream House. The Spanish Revival home, owned and transformed by celebrity hairstylist Rob Talty, is truly a sight to behold with its ombré pink exterior and lush garden that’s a habitat for butterflies and hummingbirds. And did we mention that it was just put on the market?

All house flips aren’t created equally, that’s for sure. Luckily even though this 1920s Spanish bungalow in Los Angeles went through a quick flip by its previous owner, it still had many materials that were of great quality, says Candace Shure of Shure Design Studio, who reimagined the home for her client, a young lawyer and first-time home buyer.

Familiar in South America, but lesser known on British shores, Asado is more than just a way to cook - it's a tradition deeply woven into Argentina's national identity. Celebrated globally for its unique grilling experience, Asado is often considered the king of the grilling methods. 

Drought-tolerant, laden with nectar, evergreen, long-flowering, and so pungent that it fills the garden with scent, lavender is deservedly popular. The late garden designer Rosemary Verey said, «You can never have too much of it in your garden». In its preferred conditions, of well-drained soil that is baked by the sun, it is easy to grow.

If you’ve ever wondered how to grow peanuts or why the average home gardener would even want to, you’re in the right place—and you’re in for a treat. Peanuts are easy to grow, tasty, and protein-packed. What’s more, they’re not only good for you, but they’re also good for your soil. Much more than a garden novelty, peanuts are practical and prolific. They can be eaten fresh out of the pod, pounded into peanut butter, or otherwise preserved for the long haul. Best of all, individual plants can yield as many as 40 to 50 pods each. In this article you’ll learn all about how to grow peanuts. Meet the peanut Hailing from South America, the peanut (Arachis hypogaea) isn’t technically a nut like pecan

Averting my eyes from the tulips which were shouting “Pick me! Pick me!” as I walked past, I headed towards the bottom end of the garden to pick some of the marauding Spanish bluebells that have sneaked their way in under/over/round the fence. The impact of bluebells in the garden has really registered in recent days, with the uninvited guests and the more local residents joining forces to provide by far and away the biggest splash of blue in the garden out of all the seasons. There may be little patches of blue from spring bulbs and isolated spots in the summer months, but bluebell season is something else and the splashes will only get larger and more widespread as time goes on, with even the English bluebells popping up in other parts of the garden than the woodland. By picking the Spanish bluebells, however, I can at least try and restrict their desire for dominance!

Perennials are the heart of so many gardens, coming back year after year to fill our spaces with beautiful flowers and foliage. But because they don’t usually bloom as long as annuals, and change through the seasons, they can sometimes be difficult to use effectively in a garden design—but not for the gardens we visit today in our look back at some of favorite perennial gardens featured on the GPOD.

Summer wouldn’t be summer without dahlias. Their beautiful flowers come in almost every colour imaginable, from pale pastels to hot, vibrant shades. They come in a range of flower shapes, from small tight balls to lily-like blooms the size of dinner plates. They’re perfect for adding late summer colour to borders from July to October and look good in any style of garden, from a cottage-style border to a jungle or exotic scheme. They look especially good with cosmos, grasses, Verbena bonariensis or cannas.

How to Grow Potatoes in Straw

A farm turned garden near Toledo in Spain by landscape designer Fernando Martos

Join David Hurrion on a 12-night cruise from Portugal to France, discovering enchanting gardens along the way, like the forest garden of Fonte Baxa and the gardens of Pays d’Auge.

Dumping manure in public spaces, hurling eggs at government buildings, blocking major roads—the European farmers who have taken to the streets to challenge free trade policies sure know how to raise a ruckus. Beginning with German farmers in January earlier this year, to then include French and Belgian producers, the continent-wide protest movement has expanded into Spain and Italy as of mid-February. Their public disruption has also produced results.

Named after a sixteenth-century Spanish physician and botanist, Nicholas Monardes (Labiatae). A small genus of annual and perennial herbs from North America, with fragrant leaves and flowers, related to Salvia. The leaves are nettle-like, and the flowers have a spiky appearance and are clustered together in whorls: the color ranges from white through pink, mauve, and purple to red.

Smeg

There are certain global events that everyone knows. If you've never heard of St Patrick's Day, people will likely ask you what planet you are from. Globally, people grow up hearing tales of Carnival in Brazil, Oktoberfest in Germany, and several other festivals that are also celebrated in smaller numbers outside their home countries. But what of the world’s lesser-known celebrations? Have you ever heard of Spain’s baby jumping festival? Or the Monkey Buffet Festival in Thailand? (No, it doesn’t involve humans eating them.)

London pride (Saxifraga x urbium) is a low-growing evergreen perennial, a hybrid between Spanish Saxifraga umbrosa and Irish Saxifraga spathularis. Once a great garden favourite, London pride plant is hardy and looks good all year round, forming spreading clumps of leafy rosettes made up of spoon-shaped, fleshy, mid-green leaves. In summer masses of small, pink-flushed white flowers are borne on slender stems of around 30cm in height, lasting for up to three months. London Pride thrives in most soils and situations and is especially useful for shady sites. It’s an undemanding and versatile perennial that has fallen from fashion but is a worthwhile garden plant, being easy to grow, yet not invasive. Called London pride because it flourished on bombed sites in the city during the Second World War, it’s even the subject of a song by playwright and composer Noel Coward, whose song titled ‘London Pride’ was popular at the time.

Tender climbing perennial plants which are free flowering and suitable for growing in pots in the greenhouse, or for planting out of doors. They are closely related to the Snapdragon (Antirrhinum), to whose family, Scrophulariaceae, they belong.

It doesn’t happen very often that I have an afternoon free during the week, but today I did. So it was the perfect time to sow all my April seeds, inside and out. After lunch I grabbed a cup of tea and my April box of seeds and off I went to the greenhouses to start.

Thank you everyone for all your kind words regarding my latest migraine, I found out many new things, one being that bananas can bring on attacks. I love bananas, they’re my favourite all year round fruit. I’ve decided to stop eating them for a month to see what happens, and if I don’t get a migraine at all in that time then I’ll have to find another favourite fruit that isn’t too expensive.

Apart from the odd bit of snow about the rest has all gone, and the world is green again! I only worked a morning today, so this afternoon I was able to get out into the greenhouse and sow a load of seeds. The temperature in the greenhouse is about 15 degrees so that’s a good temperature for seeds to germinate. I’ve got a lot to go through, so if you’re ready and sitting comfortably, then I’ll begin.

Today was Mother’s day and I got some wonderful gifts from Emily, George and Kai. No beer or wine, but then my birthday is in a week, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed I get some then. Still I had plenty in the fridge so that was fine. The kids clearly know me very well, as they got me a lovely chicken tea towel and mug, as well as come lovely fudge (not the smooth kind but the stuff that melts in your mouth which I prefer), and a couple of posh bars of soap so I can try and get my hands clean after a day in the garden.

Where has this month gone? Where has this year gone? I know the older you get the quicker times goes, but this is ridiculous.

To the novice it is a mystery why a simple little blossom should be burdened with an unpronounceable Latin name-and not only with one, but two and often even more. She forgets that her own name is not only Brown, that to distinguish her from all the other Browns she has been called Kathy and because of the many Kathy Browns she bears the additional name of Ann. It is just so with plants; each has a family or genus name, a given or specific name and often one or more descriptive names. Thus we have Myosotis palustris semperflorens, a plant belonging to the Myosotis or Dill family. This particular one is a marsh-lover and a more or less continual bloomer, as the last two parts of its name indicate. We prefer to call this flower Forget-me-not, its pet or familiar name, just as Kathy Ann Brown’s friends may wish to call him Kathleen or Kate.It is very interesting to investigate why the botanical names were chosen. We have all known a man named Small who was anything but small, or a girl named Grace who was not at all graceful. In the plant world, such entirely inappropriate names occur very seldom; each name is chosen to describe a particular plant and plants do not change sufficiently to belie the terms descriptive of their family. The original Small was, no doubt, small of stature, but through the ages his children have outgrown the name.

A is for annual membership of one of Ireland’s world class great gardens open to the public. Examples include Blarney Castle in Co Cork (12-month adult pass, €100, blarneycastle.ie); Mount Usher in Co Wicklow (€40, mountushergardens.ie); Killruddery in Co Wicklow; (killruddery.com from €60-€100); and Mount Congreve in Co Waterford (from €70, mountcongreve.com).