EM - April/May 2012 - (Page 36)

36 LIFE VERONA - The home of Shakespeare’s star crossed lovers April/May 2012 www.esb.ie/em Flowers for spring and early summer colour! oriental poppies in various forms are great plants for early summer. They form a large clump with huge single, or double, poppy flowers in brilliant shades of orange and red or cooler smoky tones of lilac and plum. any of these plants can be a great help with early colour in beds and borders, holding the fort until the main summer show arrives. n duces a few flowers as early as January in time with the snowdrops and continues to grow out during March flowering really well, and on into april. hellebore is the best of the early spring perennials. It begins in February and lasts into april with large flowers held on robust stems to 40cm tall. Bergenia is evergreen and provide invaluable bulk all year round but it also sends up large clusters of pink or white flowers in spring. Doronicum or leopard’s bane is a superb spring flowering plant, starting in april and lasting well into summer with lots of broad yellow daisies, lovely with tulips. Dicentra is remarkably quick to flower from ground level to knee-high in a few weeks with soft shoots and ferny foliage from about mid-april into early summer. epimedium shows masses of tiny flowers with evergreen foliage and gives great bulk to a shady border. The drumstick primula, Primula denticulata, begins to flower as early as February in a mild year and goes for many weeks with rounded flower-heads in purple or lilac on slender stems. Lunaria, or honesty, makes a broad tall head of purple or white flowers in april and, not strictly a perennial, self-sows. There is also a perennial form. Lunaria looks well with elegant white or pale yellow tulips somewhere nearby. euphorbias make a good show quite early, notably euphorbia griffithii and euphorbia polychroma, bringing those acidic yellow tones and orange-red in the case of ‘Fireglow’. The vigorous rock garden plants — arabis, aubrieta, yellow alyssum and iberis or candytuft — are normally used on banks, retaining walls and a large rock garden, but they can be used at the front of beds and borders, especially where a border meets a path or paved area and these spreading carpet-formers can make a fan of foliage. In May, the baton is taken up by several really excellent garden flowers. The German iris is an outstanding border plant with blue flowers on tall stems. It waves like a flag over the lower plants that are still trying to gain size. The Sow vegetable seeds Most vegetables can be sown in april, including: broad beans and peas; onions, onion sets, garlic and shallot sets; cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, white turnips, kohlrabi, rocket and radish; carrots and parsnips, chard, spinach and beet and lettuce. all of these crops have different maturity times and their harvest times will spread out naturally, but a better continuity of supply is achieved if there are small sowings repeated until mid-summer in some cases. Judge sowing time by your local conditions and not by date. Daffodils not flowering I’ve been very disappointed with daffodils in the last few years. They seem to be flowering less each time. Do the bulbs get worn out and should I replace them? Daffodils often lose vigour and flower less, but always for a good reason. The most common reason is shade as they are often planted under trees or shrubs which then grow out over the daffodils. Prematurely cutting the foliage reduces flowering — let it wither away. root competition of trees can also affect the bulbs and there is a disease which causes the foliage to rot very quickly and a pest that can eat the bulb core, but these are not major causes. If you can move the clumps to a brighter spot, do so. or else simply feed the bulbs where they are to encourage better vigour. GERRY DALY gardening 8 Perennial flowers that show their colour in spring and in early summer are invaluable, writes Gerry Daly. There are noT many early perennials, but those available are well worth having. They include: pulmonaria, hellebore, iberis, arabis, aubrieta, drumstick primula, dicentra, epimedium, doronicum, bergenia, lunaria and euphorbia, and two real notables, irises and oriental poppies. Pulmonaria or lungwort was an old favourite of traditional cottage gardens. It pro- Verona: Cultural Break Verona – the city immortalised in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – is situated right in the heart of the Veneto, the third largest wine-producing province in Italy. If you’re into your wine, then this is the place to come to. Famous local products include Soave, Valpolicella, Bardolino, the country’s traditional digestif Grappa and sparkling Prosecco wine. Indeed, if you’re into discovering the specific wineries where these products are made, then you’ll have no trouble visiting them, for there are many open to the public and within easy access from the city. For example, about 15 minutes drive north is Villa Novare Bertani. Best reached by taxi for about €20 each way, this 18th-century estate produces a variety of wines, including Soave, Amarone and Valpolicella. The wine tasting tour, which should be booked in advance, lasts 90 minutes, costs about €10 and it’s well worth the experience. Of course, Verona is also the setting of that tale of starcrossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, and no visit to this city would be complete without staring up at Juliet’s Balcony. Shakespeare based his famous work on a popular folktale that had been in existence in northern Italy for hundreds of years previously. The balcony alluded to is real and is part of the house once owned by the Cappello family, which Shakespeare renamed Capulet’s. It’s possible Shakespeare isn’t your thing and that’s fair enough – maybe you’re not looking for something that reminds you of your Leaving Cert! FACT FILE: HOW TO GET THERE Aer Lingus flies direct from Dublin to Verona. Regular shuttle buses depart from outside the airport terminal to Verona’s central railway station. Tickets cost €15 return. Taxi one-way costs about €40 and the price depends on the traffic. WHERE TO STAY: The Grand Hotel, Corso Porta Nuova, is one of the city’s largest business hotels with more than 60 modern, comfortable rooms that contain all the standard mod-cons. The elegant Art Deco breakfast room is a delight and, if the weather’s good, so is the hotel garden. Rooms from €100. www.grandhotelverona.com WHERE TO EAT: This is Italy, so you’re bound to be spoiled for choice between trattorias, pizzerias, and the like. There are many restaurants to choose from, but at a push we’d suggest Ristorante Greppia, a family-run trattoria that is tucked away on a side street, Vicolo Samaritana, which runs almost parallel to Via Mazzini. Closed Mondays. www.ristorantegreppia.com TONY CLAYTON-LEA TraveL While wine and culture form part of the Verona experience, you know you’re in Italy when you see people that are too attractive and fashionable for their own good. If you’re up for the hip and trendy, one of their favourite ‘in’ venues is Casa Mazzanti, on the Piazza delle Erbe; this is perfect for peoplewatching with a glass of wine in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other. If you want shopping, visit Via Mazzini, the main street in the city’s Old Town quarter. Here you will find designer stores from top to bottom. And if you’re the kind of person who likes nothing more than to mooch around for an hour or two, you could do a lot worse than to make your way to the city market at Piazza dell Erbe. All human life – and lots of bargains – can be found here. The same can be said for the whole of Verona, a city of great beauty with a relaxed lifestyle. n http://www.esb.ie/em http://www.grandhotelverona.com http://www.ristorantegreppia.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of EM - April/May 2012

EM - April/May 2012
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EM - April/May 2012