Green on the Rails

Travellers on the newest metro line - Line 14 - in Paris are surprised to pull into the Gare du Lyon station.  One has the impression of entering a rainforest jungle!

Catch the line and be amazed by this fabulous (and seemingly well kept) large garden on the side of the tracks., right next to the train.   Much nicer to look at than a wall full of advertising, and completely unexpexted.

Line 14 was only opened just over 10 years ago and it's the only line with driverless trains.  It's a very modern line, lots of concrete, glass and modern design of the stations.  If you take this line, try to stand in the front carriage right at the front where the driver's cab would have been (if there was one).  It's a great ride, fast and full of wind-ey tunnels and long stretches. where you can see the stations approaching from the darkness like beacons ahead.  You can even pretend you're driving.  Great fun, even for adults!

I always wonder who looks after this garden at the Gare du Lyon, whoever, they are doing a great job!  It's a pleasure to look at and really unusual in an underground station.

Winter Jasmine

We inherited a very sturdy yellow winter jasmine which is climbing an old trellis.  It is very virulent and, if left unchecked, it will droop down to the floor and becomes quite unruly.  I trim it back hard every summer and it really pays back my hard work.

Although it peeks out from a tiny hole in a concrete drive, the plant is huge and was the only bright spot of colour on what was a grey dull wall.  We painted the wall off white and now the light reflects off it and the pretty vibrant yellow flowers look even more beautiful, especially during a long, dark winter.  It is such an amazing plant coming from such a tiny hole, sometimes people stop and comment when it's in full bloom.  It has given me much cheer on difficult days as I look out onto a rainy or snowy scene.

The flowers have all but gone now but now we can look forward to the bright green leaves that will develop.

If you have a wall that needs cheering up, you could do well to choose a winter jasmine to give your garden some winter colour and interest with foilage in the summer.

There are 200 or more species of Jasminum.  Climbing jasmines will twine themselves over any suitable support - trellis, fence, arch or even over a large shrub or into a tree.  In cool areas, jasmines should be grown in a sheltered position.  Jasmines are fully hardy to frost tender, ours does not seem to be affected by frost at all.  Jasmines need well drained soil in full sun or partial shade (ours has partial shade in a position that receives sunshine until 11h every day and is in a sheltered position out of the wind).

If your neigbour has a jasmine, you could ask nicely for a cutting in summer, pop it in a loam based potting compost in bright light (but keep it out of full sunshine).  Plant in the Autumn or spring.

Our jasmine is jasminum nudiflorum (Winter Jasmine).  It's described as a deciduous shrub because it loses its leaves in Autum, ready to bear flowers in winter and the leaves are produced in spring on the site of the fallen flowers.  Here's a close up of our glorious jasmine.

For successful winter jasmines, it's better to plant on a wall that doesn't get too much sunshine as the sun can damage the flowers after a frost - preferably a north facing wall - wow a plant that likes this exposure - that's a treat for those with a north facing wall.

Never plant a winter jasmine on an east facing wall because the morning sun will defrost the flowers too quickly, leading to damage.

One should prune a winter jasmine at the end of winter and the goal of pruning should be to open up the plant mass by cutting back the old branches that are stopping the young ones from pushing through.  Also, the branches that flowered in the winter should be cut back. 

Berry nice dining!

Sorry about the title...You would think I spend my days in Monoprix, given my recent posts, but I don't honest.

I was in there today and spotted this very cute table and chairs dining set enhanced with a lovely juicy strawberry design.

The table was just under 50 Euros and the chairs around 36 Euros.  Very cute on a small balcony or in a corner in the garden.  Watch out though if you leave them in the sun, you might burn your bum as the ensemble is made of metal:-)

Sia Artificial Flowers

I am so desparate for spring to arrive that I snapped these cheerful displays in my local branch of Monceau Fleurs.  All fake I'm afraid, but some of them quite pretty I thought and a nice colourful addition to your home.  The vases are pretty and the white display elegant.  Fake orchids in particular can be very convincing and attractive.  The real thing is hard to grow as you need the right conditions, restraint when watering, pruning them in the right way and lots of patience.  My Mum has some quite large orchids (real!) We purchased the bulbs on a visit to the 'Garden Island' of Madeira well over 10 years ago when we had a guided tour of an incredible orchid grower's plants and garden.  Have a look at the fabulous gardens of this special island:-
  http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesUK/gardenindex.html 

I'm ashamed to say my orchids did not thrive, however.

So, here's a couple of jolly pictures to cheer the winter gloom!  Stems seemed to cost around 9 Euros a piece for the smaller ones by the way.

My Challenge for 2011

Watch this space, I am planning a big project for my blog - I'd like to visit ALL the squares in Paris and report back to you on each and every one of them.  Usually when you're looking for squares of Paris you can come across the famous squares and Places, but not tiny neigbourhood squares that are so vital to the community, offering a place to sit in the sun or shade, a place to relax, somewhere to eat your sandwich lunch, walk out with your children, your baby, your sweetheart or your friends.  The place you can pop into and see familiar faces, maybe a few ducks, definitely some soothing greenery and occasionally steal a go on the swings when nobody's looking!  It's those squares I'm interested in, the 'real' Paris, not the well visited tourist route. 

Let's see if I can meet my challenge, at least I hope to bring you some new and unusual places to visit that you might have overlooked....here's hoping!

In the meantime, here's the official Paris website, which is quite good actually.

http://www.paris.fr/portail/english/Portal.lut?page_id=8212

Watch here for the unofficial version:-)

Square Louvois

A little known square in the 2nd arron., Square Louvois must have the most impressive fountain of all the little squares in Paris.  It is huge!  The square takes its name from the Marquis of Louvois.  The four female figures on the fountain represent the four major rivers of France - the Seine, the Garonne, the Loire and the Saöne and the signs of the Zodiac are featured on the large marble base.  The fountain was designed by Louis Visconti and was sculpted by Jean Louis Klugman.  The fountain features in a modern day episode of 'Gossip Girl' and one of the characters was pushed into it.(Serena played by Blake Lively).  The square was created in 1830 on the site of the Theatre National de la rue de la Loi.

I really love the soft green fence and its Art Nouveau style, arching outwards.  I'll be watching this ugly looking arch hopefully become covered with plants as the spring and summer approach.

The Square is only one of two green spaces in the 2nd arr, the area of Paris with the fewest green spaces.  It is pretty unexpected and the fountain is impressive and draws an intake of breath when one first falls upon it.

ps behind the square is a fantastic selection of Japanese and Vietnamese restaurants and other versions of Far Eastern cuisine, for all budgets.   Well worth visiting this quarter if you like this type of cuisine and worth shopping around for some very reasonable set menus, especially at lunchtime.

Drilling

If you're going to purchase those pretty zinc pots in Monprix with the lacy edges and you'd like to use them as flower pots outside rather than cache pots inside, you'll have to drill a hole in the bottom to save the roots of your plant becoming waterlogged and rotting.  Don't turn the pot upside down and press too hard on the bottom to drill as you'll bend the lacy edges.  Instead, try to turn the pot on its side and drill sideways.  You might need someone to hold the pot still as you might have to press quite hard and the drill bit will suddenly pop through when you've made your hole, so mind your fingers:-)