Gardening is one of my passions so I am delighted to discover #sixonsaturday as a way to link up with fellow gardeners across the world.
When I think of the various areas of our garden I try to plan them as different rooms or a transition from one room to the next. Each room has a different feel and purpose.
1.This is the top patio. The Bougainvillea acts as a windbreak, privacy screen and the patio is suntrap.
Plants include a Madagascar Cactus Palm (blue pot). Queen of the Night Orchid Cactus, Spider plant, Sago Palm, Hibiscus, Freesia and Yucca.

This is a longshot taken of the same area back in December 2017. It is one of my favourite places to sit and write poetry as it is a peaceful space surrounded by flowers and greenery. As you can see, the Queen of the Night Orchid Cactus in the square stone pot, was still only a baby.

2. The wooden seats are strategically placed to catch the morning sun and are the perfect place to take breakfast.
Plants include Yucca, Abracadabra Rose (yellow pot), orange Hibiscus (brown pot). I have never discovered the name of the palm on the RH side of the photograph. Any suggestions gratefully received. (Jane has since offered the suggestion it is a Dracaena Draco). I’ve checked out google images and she is right, thank you.

3. In the photo below, a brita (gravel) path leads to the pool area. To the left there is an olive hedge. It started as a tree, through lack of pruning ended up as a bush and has since morphed into a 7ft hedge which we shape to the curve of the path. It still has plenty of olives which would be great if they were not attacked every year by brown marks which scars deep into the fruit. Still, the birds like them, so at least someone enjoys them.
The large pot needs replanting. I’ve yet to decide with what as it is in shade most of the time and gets the full force of the Atlantic salt winds.
In the foreground there is a scraggy red hedge which is now in its seventh year. by now it should be at least 6ft tall so come spring we will part company and it will be replaced. Replaced by what is still under consideration.

4. The waterfall rockery needs a total revamp. During the winter it is in full shade and in summer it exposed to full sun until about 13.00. I will probably need to grow the plants in containers and swap them around according to the season.

5. The pots in this area were only planted up in May so we’ve yet to see how they survive with the lack of sun during the winter. The trailing petunias are still flowering as is the white flower (name escapes me at the moment). The variegated Euonymus is growing well, but again we will see how it survives during the winter.
This is how it looked when planted in May. We referred to this area as our Gin Corner.

6. It has taken years for our Bird of Paradise to flower but this year we have been rewarded by an almost continuous display of flowers.

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Continued
Have you a rum corner too?? 😉
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NAh, I don’t drink Rum. Does not seem to be a popular drink here.
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Lovely warming photos to view on a cold day in England…your garden looks like a wonderful relaxing treasure.
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It’s not so warm now, Ronnie. It’s blowing a gale and raining hard. 😦
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I would hit the like button but there’s nothing to like about wind and rain 😦
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Amazing!! I love that you have seating areas all over the place so you can really enjoy all the different areas of your garden. It must be so much work to keep it all so beautiful but it’s absolutely worth it.
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It is a lot of work. I love creating different seating areas to eat, drink and write poetry… and just contemplate life and nature.
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Wow. A beautiful garden and rather cheering to see on a cold damp day over here!
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*blushes*, thank you. GArdening is my passion and always work in progress
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What a beautiful garden you have. Your hard work is making it even more gorgeous. No wonder you love spending time in it.
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Thank you 😉 It is my corner of paradise
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Lovely pictures! Lovely to see some sunshine, pretty grey and cold here now.
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thanks, caversham. It’s been pretty grey, wet and cold here over the last few days. Gardening in Portugal presents its own challenges. 🙂
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You have a beautiful garden Carole, love your G&T corner by the pool!
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thanks, Sami. I just wish we had the sun back in that corner now.
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You are indeed blessed with a glorious garden. I so wish we had your lovely weather and your pool!
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Thank you, daisy. My garden is my passion and so different from gardening in the UK
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Welcome to the gang. So much fun to see gardens in different climates.
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thank you for the welcome, Marla. BTW i love your pansies and am going to see if I can get some here.
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Really enjoyed seeing your plants and garden. I’ve got a few of these plants – Strelitzia, ‘Queen of the Night’, Bougainvillea etc but they’re all still tiny pot plants in my UK greenhouse.
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Hi Katherine, thank you for stopping by 🙂
is this their first winter? Is your greenhouse heated?
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The difference in how much sun each area of your garden gets, depending on season, is really amazing. To go from half a day to none is wow. I like the idea of switching pots as the seasons change. A beautiful garden &, as Jane said, so different from most of the SoSers, even those in the southern hemisphere. Really interesting.
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Hi Lora, thank you for stopping by. The idea for swapping pots around was down to having a relatively small garden so maximising space, season and interest.. For example, bulbs take a long time to grow, flowering season is relatively short and then we are left with scraggy leaves as they die down. I don’t usually plant directly into decorative pots so once the bulbs have finished flowering I can whisk them away and let the foliage die down out of sight.
As for the sun, I had not really noticed until this year when I made a conscious effort to brighten up the area in front of the hedge. We will see how the plants fair this winter. I love experimenting 🙂
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What a lovely space, Pip! I’m quite envious as we only have a small patio and a roof terrace. Enough for now, though. 🙂 🙂
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I would miss my garden, Jo. However, I had a friend who only had balconies and she created the most amazing green space with planters and wall baskets, so there is hope yet 🙂
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Your garden is amazing! It looks so inviting, I’d love to join you there one day for a G&T 🙂
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Yo know you would be most welcome 🙂 Now you know what I mean when I say I am going to work in my garden. 🙂
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Goodness, your garden is so different from all the other Sixers’: so interesting to see the plants you have in a completely different climate. I wonder if your mystery palm could be a form of Dragon Palm- Dracaena Draco?
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That is why I am delighted to discover six on saturday and look at all the gardens and challenges each blogger experiences. . Yes, you are right! It is a Dracaena draco. I’ll update the photo. Thank you 🙂
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That is exactly what I was thinking, but was looking for an actual palm.
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Oh my word. You have a gorgeous garden!!!
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thank you, Granny. I work in my garden everyday. 🙂
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