Porto Venere a jewel in the Spezzino

Porto Venere is a gem of a little town just outside the Cinque Terre and dates from Roman times. 

 You can explore the 1000 year old carruggi (alleyways), the commanding Castle Doria, and the boardwalk in front of the colourful facades in the port.

On a summers day you can take a swim in Byron’s Bay or from the rocks below San Pietro and don’t miss the views from the porch of San Pietro or the castle ( a small charge to enter but worth it)

 San Pietro the church on the point dates from the 13th century while the Castle dates from 1161.

 All this and dont forget you can eat at one of the of the port side restuarants. All makes for a truly magical day at any time of year.

Porto Venere can also be used to take a boat trip to the Cinque Terre.

You can get to Porto Venere by car or by bus or boat from La Spezia.  

Happy New Year - Relax and do nothing!

This post is the first in a new series of posts where I will give examples of things to do and places to see in the vicinity of Casa Colleverde.

Friends who have stayed with us have said that contemplating the view from the house gives them a sense of place and has a calming effect on them with the effect that they wish to do nothing but sit and read or chat and never leave the house.

Now this is fine by us I too never tire of the view and can sit with or without a glass of wine(although more often with I have to say)and contemplate the view particularly on a warm evenng . With the lights below the house in the valley gradually coming on the view seems like something from the Hollywood hills over Los Angeles.

On a clear day you can see the the various islands in the Mar Tirreno an on a very clear day Corsica.

View from the pool at night

Breakfast Balcony view towards Livorno

Often friends who feeling like doing some exercise
but not leaving the hill take our Norfolk Terrier Sam for a walk. He is always a willing participant in this game and is quite happy to play every day!
With or without Sam there are lots of hiking trails in the woods behind the house and these can be hiked even in summer as under the trees it is less hot.

We also have a couple of moutain bikes for those who are more active. There are trails that can be cycled directly from the house but beware we are on a hill and if you start to go down evetually you will have to return up again and believe you me its hard work, I know I have done it!



For those who have felt like doing nothing but sit by the pool Sam is quite happy to keep you company there as well. He doesnt like getting wet but will sit under your chair to watch or keep out of the sun.



In the evening after an active day by the pool we can put the world to rights over a glass of wine and a relaxing BBQ.

Wilting Shoots in the garden at Casa Colleverde... Ebay to the rescue.

Unfortuantely no more lavender.

This year we lost a lot of plants in the garden. Three months of hot dry weather and no rain took their toll. The 'mediterranean garden' was looking more like a desert and I have been feeling a little brown fingered - the 'pollice verde' are not working.

In the spring we had started to fill in the gaps in the garden from the initial planting in 2011 and had planted some more lavender, in May the garden was looking great but then with the start of the hot dry weather we were hit with a root fungus which proceeded to kill off most of the 40 new lavender plants together with those we had planted last year. We then had a foliar/stem fungus which killed the 70 Cornus planted in the fito depurazione system, the roses were losing their leaves inspite of regular dousing with an anti  fungal and then the Magnolia died and one of the Cyprus trees is looking unwell. Could things get any worse... well to top it all the roses which were doing well were then attacked by a plague of caterpillars who proceeded to eat the remaining leaves. 

Things have come back a bit since the autumn rains but we are having to do a serious rethink on how to proceed in the garden.

I think I have to be patient. You cannot hurry in gardening, instant gardens do not always work. This is all very well but the garden at least needs to be presentable for guests.                                                     

Getting new soil in is not an option living on top of the hill at the end of a track. We can steadily        improve what we have and are composting but it will take time. Well lets take stock - what did survive?                                                                                   We did plant some Genista to help retain a bank which even with litttle or no watering or rain all survived and have grown well but they are ok in the wilder part of the garden but not particulary pretty. Other plants which sems to like our ex bulding plot are Gazania which have self seeded from last year and this year I have taken the seed to seed elsewhere.A white valerian has been successful and has also self seeded but I will have to be careful with this as it can become a bit of a thug. Having said that I am trying to get the red one going as well via seed as they do not like being transplanted and we will see what happens the seedling can easily be removed.The Acanthus mollis I transplanted from my old garden (another plant a bit fussy about moving) is still sulking but looks like it will be ok next year and then I can leave it to self seed. Rosemary seems to like the conditions as does thyme.   

The Agave and the Fico d'india seem happy and are both easy to tranplant or take cuttings if you are careful as they are a bit spikey! So maybe things are not so bad.

One of my favourite plants is Euphorbia Characias ( a woody  perrenial) which does well in UK gardens and I used it often when planting gardens there. But here it is impossible to find even though it is native to Liguria and the Cinque Terre! 

So Ebay has come to my rescue - I have been buying seeds a much cheeper way to experiment and hopefully these will establish themselves. so far I have planted Eurphorbia Characias (indigenous) and a Euphorbia Melifera (honey scented) and Erigeron.All are no more than 1 euro a packet including postage even if only one seed comes up it is well worth it.

I have also been looking to see what grows wild around the house and I am going to plant both wild versions of these plants and the cultivated varieties.A white cistus grows in the woods around the house in little soil and no water so that seems a good candidate the pink ones we had planted have survived. The wild herbs seem to be everywhere thyme, oregano, mentha and myrtle is common.

Helychrysum grows in the olive gove as well and I have transplanted a couple of plants which have taken so those also seem a good candidate. I am also taking cuttings although this maybe should wait to spring as they will more likely take better.

 Erigeron grows in the wall in all the old hilltop towns around me self seeds everywhere but is impossible to transplant. Once it gets going I am sure I will have it everwhere.

So slowy slowy we will get there and I am now looking forward to spring next year.

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ps I hope the sources of photos above once found at a later date