Association || There is a new association in Portugal dedicated to plants and gardens of the Mediterranean climate zones created by an international group of enthusiastic gardeners: the Mediterranean Gardening Association.
The Associação de Plantas e Jardins em Climas Mediterrânicos (APEJECM), as it is called in Portuguese, was founded after recent changes in national legislation. Earlier events and activities were part of the Mediterranean Garden Society, but as this had no legal status in Portugal it was necessary to form a new group in order to continue and to develop activities.
The association is maintained by a group of volunteer members, including plant lovers, amateur and professional gardeners, landscape architects and botanists. All are united by their shared interest in Mediterranean plants, gardens and horticulture.
Members will soon benefit from a new website for sharing information, articles and photos. We are developing a directory with gardens open to visit and we will have a display garden at the Biennial of Nature Tourism. This will be held in Aljezur from September 26 to 28 and is a new initiative to celebrate the potential of natural history tourism in the Algarve.
There are international links with similar associations in the Mediterranean regions of France and Spain, and connections with gardeners in the UK and elsewhere, that also provide information on the gardens to visit and good nurseries.
Another important aspect is a shared seed scheme giving the possibility to cultivate many unusual plants for members with donations from gardens appropriate to our conditions.
The association will continue to organise the popular Mediterranean Gardening Fair in the Algarve, which this year will take place on November 1 in the historic gardens of the Estói Palace. This is an opportunity to meet other gardeners, shop at small specialist nurseries and learn from the programme of lectures and workshops.
The Association also conducts periodic meetings based on sharing knowledge on gardening for Mediterranean climates. These can be summarised as a day of practical lessons or a day of visits to private gardens and recommended nurseries.
Our goal is to encourage nurseries to cultivate plants that we cannot find and commission them to produce more of the best species we have in our gardens. This will also involve the conservation and cultivation of rare and hard-to-find plants that deserve our attention.
You can participate in this association and contribute your ideas, successes and failures with plants and gardening challenges – this way we can learn from each other and share our experience of Mediterranean gardening in Portugal.
For more information contact Rosie Peddle:
By Rosie Peddle
289 791 869 | [email protected]
Visit www.gardeninginportugal.com | www.mediterraneangardeningportugal.org
