Just as I enjoyed finding and taking pictures of Kosovo gardens, I also had a lot of fun walking the streets of the Greek neighborhood where we stayed and finding great gardening ideas to share with you all. Of course I didn't have to walk far, because all of the photos you see above were from the courtyard of the four-apartment building where our friends live. Their landlady's family built the apartments years ago and takes care of the courtyard plantings.
There is a large marble tile patio and the freesias in the bottom photos are in a marble planter. And that's the first thing I noticed about all of Greece, actually:
There is marble everywhere!
Patios, apartment floors, balconies, fountains, planters, benches - even the streets and curbs (!) - are made out of marble. And guess what? They all want wood floors in their houses instead of marble! It's all a matter of what is plentiful, I guess.
In this courtyard, I love the way the owners made the driveway disappear by enclosing it in triple arches made of iron from the patio side and then created an arched pergola over the drive (attaching to the arches on that side and a fence on the other). Since it wasn't blooming, I'm not sure of the flowering vine that covers it - but look how sweet it makes a utilitarian metal garage door and driveway?
Oh, and those freesia smelled heavenly! Between those and the blooming orange trees, there was always something lovely in the air.
Many driveways were covered in some sort of metal pergola - this one is white and covered in grape vines. This was one of my favorite houses on the walk - the combination of stone facade, arched window with small panes, roses and grape covered arbor was simply lovely.
Almost all of the houses and apartments in Athens only had yards the depth of a car - enough for a driveway on one end and a little square of front yard (always enclosed by some type of fence). As you can see, many people make the most of it. I couldn't believe how big this wisteria was - look at how it is being trained along the third level balcony! I would estimate it to be 50 feet long or more.
Think of that the next time you see wisteria planted on every column of a porch, as I once saw in Portland - for about 4 years I would drive by and watch the plants slowly engulf the roof and upstairs...until they finally chopped them down!
Some of the places I loved were pretty low-maintenance, like this house with permanent plantings of only some grass, roses, and a couple large bushes out front. The color comes from the pots lining the rail and at the foot of the stairs. Simple and sweet. Of course all those cute shutters add to the whole look, too, don't they?
Now this yard stopped me in my tracks - mainly because it was out of the norm for the houses in this area to be so trimmed and higher maintenance. But it is lovely - and you see they add color with some pots by the door, too.
As I walked along the sidewalks, I always had to dodge these orange trees that were planted in the middle of the sidewalks (not in planting strips like we're used to - smack dab in the middle of the walk). Yep, the sidewalks in Greece are for trees and not people, apparently. And while they look lovely along the streets, they make it difficult to walk and the fruit is only decorative - can you believe it? Our friends told us that the fruits are bitter and full of seeds.
One day when Brian and I were walking together, we found this incredible blooming tree leaning over the fence of one of the yards. Have you ever seen anything like this? The leaves are mottled and the flowers are light orange with yellow highlights. I have no idea what it was, but even Brian was amazed at the beauty of this flowering tree.
In Thessaloniki we spent most of our time in the heart of the city where balconies and container plantings ruled. On a climb to a fortress above the city, I had Brian take a picture of this roof top garden - it looked like an oasis in the middle of the city. And it was only a simple iron-pipe trellis covered in grape vines and a few planters with evergreens.
My biggest take-away overall? Like Kosovo families, the Greeks seem to use what they have to make even the smallest postage-stamp sized space lovely and usable. Metal rods, iron fences, plentiful marble, and simple plants go a long way to making a liveable garden. I also liked their use of pots, pergolas and arbors to provide color and a framework for plants.
What garden idea could you see yourself incorporating from one of these Greek gardens?
Summers Acres says
I just love the wisteria! Gorgeous.
~Ann
Linda says
Never mind! I found it at the botom of the email not the post. Thank you!
Linda says
Hi Jamie, I've been a subscriber for quite a while; I looked for the link at the bottom of this email for the Spring Menu Ebook and don't seem to find it. Where should I look?
Tami says
Good post!
Happy Birthday Jami!!
( no I am not some crazy stalker, I just remembered we share the same B-day)
Jami says
Thank you, Tami - and happy birthday back!
Sel says
This year we changed our method of raising veggies. Since we have a huge
rooftop deck, it was decided to use the space. Twenty gal sized planters and
some wonderful organic enriched soil planted with all our favorite veggies.
Wow, we are so pleased. Lots of sun, and the system of watering all in place....proving to be a smarter way for us. What else to do with this
wasted space? Other then numerous umbrellas and seating or lounging
furniture, this, was the most appropriate decision....
Come fall, we will be planting fruit trees in enormous planters made from decking
material, the synthetic kind. Lined with tin, so we have protection from rot. I have
seen a blog where the planters were made without protection against rot....i believe
cedar boards were used. Shame, so much effort without protection against water
and soils.
I am sure many Europeans are using their rooftops for growing their choice of plants.
Actually, history tells us of the fabled Gardens of Babylon.....Beautifully done, imagine
what these must have looked like? Sel.
Jami says
Bravo, Sel! Your deck solution sounds wonderful - and a great use of space. You're right, I saw many balconies that were used to grow plants, just not sure how many were vegetables. Lovely flowers, though!
[email protected] HOMESPUN says
This is a fun series 🙂
Jennifer says
Amazing gardens! And so different! And thank you for including the link to your trip. Somehow I missed the very first one, although I saw the posts about Kosovo. Oh my goodness. Putting Greece on the bucket list! And is there a post about how you paid cash? I'll go back and look! If not, wouldn't mind seeing that! Yes, saving up and then going, but was wondering if you had some other ideas too. Thanks, Jennifer (and keep the travel posts coming love them!)
Jami says
Thank you, Jennifer! Good idea about the cash for trip post - I'll put that on my to-post list. 🙂
daisy says
Wow! That wisteria is amazing! Looks like there was plenty of blooms to enjoy!
Shelly says
I wonder what some of these gardeners could do with an average lot when they can grow so much in such a small space. Great pictures!
Vickie says
Lovely pictures - but I have to agree with the Greek - wood floors instead of marble! I made a rookie mistake today and put my name where the name of my post should be - haha! Oh well. Have a great week and thank you for hosting!
Mindy says
I love the arbor covered driveways. Everything is so pretty.
That mottled leaf plant almost looks like abutilon (not sure I'm spelling that right). I've never grown it, but from the ones I've seen, it looks like how I remember it.
Jami says
Spot on, Mindy! Thank you - I Googled it (correct spelling btw!) and the images matched plus this description:
Darn, it's tropical so no growing here... 🙁 I'm surprised we didn't see more of them - it really was stunning.
angi says
What beauty! Our city is starting to plant fruit trees in some of the parks instead of just all shade trees. I think it's neat, they're so much prettier.
Right now my yard/garden is pretty utilitarian, I'm slowly adding ornamentals and beauty to it. My husband wants a wisteria, I think we'll need to put it on the fence!
dee says
Wisteria is so beautiful but it gets large and very heavy so it will pull down fences, gutters, posts....I had a beautiful one for years on a patio cover with 6x6" posts and large timber crossbeams (?) and it pulled the post out of alignment. That whole section moved out of place. Big job and expense to repair. Be cautious. I finally had to cut it down.....so hated doing that but no choice.
JoAnn Bayne says
I'm amazed at what they can do is such small spaces - the photos are fabulous!