Well, of all the months to get your gardening clothes on and trowels in hand, this is the one- April – the busiest gardening month in the Greek calendar. There is such a vast amount of work to do – what with tidying up after the winter and making sure that everything is just right for the long and incredibly dry summer. Not to mention any seeds that may still need to be sewn and weeds that may need to be weeded!

Barley was first cultivated in western Asia at least 9,000 years ago and is now an annual grass of temperate regions too. Its important grain is used in the brewing of beer (malting barley). Grain not used in this process is used to feed livestock and at the end of March - beginning of April, barley is reaped in abundance for this purpose in Greece.

What could be better than natural Christmas decorations? The red berries of the holly and the white of the mistletoe are synonymous with the festive season, but in Greece there are plenty of seasonal fruits and flowers with their striking reds and oranges to brighten up the balcony, veranda or the garden.

These are a creeping plants, which often form extensive mats on roadsides and coastal areas. The actual plant is fleshy and has woody-based stems. The leaves are slightly waxy and are between 8 - 12cm long and have a triangular cross-section. They are arranged in opposite pairs an have serrated edges.

On hillsides, in woodlands, along waysides – in clumps and clusters under small bushes and between rocks – the Cyclamen are now well established and can be seen everywhere in abundance. Their delicate and rich pink flowers stretch upwards on long, thin stems, as if trying to reach for the watery blue skies of October. 

Whilst walking on one of the beaches during the wintertime, I had often noticed clumps of flat ribbon-shaped leaves growing out of the sand and wondered if they might be Sea Daffodils. I never seemed to be there at the right time to see their blooms, but this September, I was rewarded by their magnificent display!

February is the month where gardens should be getting well prepared for the spring. One of the two most important jobs to start with is preparing the soil while it is still damp enough. This can be done by adding good amounts of rich mulch – compost with rotting leaves and bark – or anything else that can be rotted down! This greatly improves the quality of the soil and will in turn, reduce weed growth and help to  retain a balanced level of moisture.