^^ I agree...just fabulous!!

I sure hope you get rain soon!!

Good grief, Daisy. Your gardens always stun me. I can’t imagine having that out my black door. I imagined Crete as being very dry, but your garden looks so lush. I clearly have quite a bit to learn about Crete! Please keep sharing!

How long did it take for you to build this garden? Did you have a definite plan you started with or has it evolved and changed drastically?

Daisy, you have a beautiful combination of stone, greenery and flowers. And what a profusion of roses! The garden must be filled with scent.

as always.. thx for the pix ... ken

deannatoby, you are right, Crete is very dry. I put down loads of compost and manure. I also pack the garden. Everything is very close together. That way the plants keep each other damp for a long time.

I water by hand once a fortnight during the summer, except when we have a heat wave. Then I need to water every 10 or 12 days.

I looked at the garden for some months before we started laying it out. There was no shape to it, no paths, no walls. Just a few fruit trees and lots of their suckers and saplings. the only other plant in the garden was lots of brambles.

Daisy

That is absolutely spectacular, Daisy, and more so for creating such a lush oasis in a dry climate! I love the raised lily pond especially!

How do you get anything done? I would never leave the garden!

Gorgeous!

Yep, you have built a really perfect little gem there, Daisy. Bravo.

Daisy, your garden is covered in glory. I can't stop looking at it.

A little piece of heaven.

I knew I was in for a treat when I clicked on your post. Absolutely beautiful garden!

Just lovely!

Sherry

Very beautiful. What is the native soil like there?Is this an old garden or did you start it from scratch?

wantonamara, the soil is a light sandy loam, which is fine, but it is only 1 spit deep and not even that in places. To begin with, I only gave donkey manure to the roses and clematis. Now however, I add manure and compost to most of the garden, as it helps to keep the soil moist.

Daisy

Great. So you have both a breathtaking garden AND a donkey? On Crete? That’s just too much awesomeness for one person.

;-)

There truly are no words to describe what you've created. You are such a talented gardener, Daisy.

An absolute delight to look through your pictures!

Yeah, I know. I have relatives in Chania and Daisy's pics make me want to retire there.

Campanula? Campanula! Welcome back and please do stay. I've missed you - enough to even check you out on the perennial forum but there were very few posts. I'll say it again, glad to have you back.

Cath

Daisy, glorious as always!

Crete is currently in drought but on average N. Crete receives a decent annual rainfall upwards of 600mm. There are places in Greece much drier than that. For example, where I live the average is about 300mm. Of course, as is typical of the Med climate, insignificant amount of rain is received during the 4 summer months.