My French garden: summer in Alpes-Maritimes

Last year I was contacted by Living France magazine and interviewed for a short article about the garden at Lou Messugo. They found me through all the posts I have written here on the blog over the years about creating and developing our garden. One thing led to another and now I write for the magazine every quarter.  Somehow I didn’t get around to making much of a fuss about this back in April when my first article was published, but now that the second one is in print I thought I’d mention it after all!

The idea is that I write about the different seasons in the garden, what is growing, what we’re doing in the garden, what I like about it etc.  That comes easily, but the big difference writing for a magazine and writing on this blog is the timing.  Being a print magazine I have to write a season in advance which means I have to find photos from last year.  Now I’m revealing insider secrets! Luckily I’ve never held back in the photography department, I’m not known for my restraint when it comes to taking photos, so I have a plentiful supply of shots of the garden.

I thought it would be fun to show that despite writing months in advance the flowers have not let me down and the oleander, callistemon, lavender and jasmine are all either beginning to flower or fully blooming. It’s not yet mid June so by July, the month this issue of the magazine is actually about, the oleander will be exploding and the lavender will be in its prime.

Here are some oleanders; they’re early this year like most other plants in the garden owing to a very mild winter (I assume).  Look closely and you can see plenty of buds.

The callistemon, or bottlebrush as it is known in Australia (a huge favourite of mine), isn’t as happy this year as previous summers, but there’s plenty of time for it to improve, it’s early days.

The lavender is just starting to go purple.

The jasmine on the terrace of the gite smells wonderful, it’s the best it’s ever been.  Sitting in these deck chairs in the shade (in the morning, by midday this is in the full sun), you catch wafts of delicate perfume.  

Here’s the actual article, you need good eyesight to read it!

There are two other lovely bloggers in France filling in the other months and showcasing their different areas:  Rosie in Calvados and Katherine in Limousin.  Between us we have the whole year covered.  This month’s issue is out now, available in all good newsagents in UK or online here.

Living France is a great magazine for anyone thinking of moving to France, planning a move to France, actually already living in France or just a lover of France.  My next article will be published in the Autumn issue (out on 31 August).

If you’d like to see the garden for yourself and read magazines around the pool, then get  in touch to find out what availability we have left, but hurry, much of summer 2017 is already full and the whole of the school summer holidays this year is booked.  Don’t forget however that our summer lasts well into October usually and every season here has its charm.

You can read plenty more posts about the garden at Lou Messugo by clicking here.  I hope you enjoy my foray into the world of magazine writing and as always I’d love to hear from you in the comments.