Finding familiar flowers in a foreign land

My husband Charlie and I had the good fortune to spend the first two weeks of October in Italy. It was still quite hot there, every day in the mid- to upper eighties, and we sweated our way through the Colosseum, the Forum, the Vatican Museums and other tourist destinations. The second week, at our lodgings in Tuscany it was still hot, but there was a pool. Outdoor swimming in October — bliss for me!

The unseasonably warm weather also meant that it was easy for me to go out for an early morning walk every day, and those walks were so much more than exercise; they helped me feel connected to that foreign land in a way I’m not sure would have happened otherwise.

There were the grand things — the nearby mountains, olive trees climbing/marching up and down the lower hills in orderly rows, and sweeping views of the little town and the cultivated fields below. And there were the little things — the sweet songs of European robins (my Merlin app identified them for me) and the bright wildflowers scattered along the edges of the lanes I walked.

I was surprised and charmed to find so many flowers that I’m used to seeing here in Pennsylvania. Common chicory (Cichorium intybus), butter-and-eggs, a.k.a. yellow toadflax (Linaria vulgaris), yellow fleabane (Dittrichia viscosa), Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota), varieties of both purple and yellow asters, a creeping morning glory, white campion (Silene latifolia), and dandelions. There was also plenty of pyracantha, their branches heavy with yellow-orange fruits.

It didn’t occur to me until later that of course I would find familiar plants in Italy; many of the wildflowers that we’re used to seeing here are native to Europe and were brought to these shores by immigrants, explorers, horticulturalists, and botanists. In any case, it was delightful to have these representatives of “home” to welcome me into my new environs. Actually, the biggest surprise was seeing pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), since it is native to eastern North America, down into Mexico. I guess I didn’t expect to see evidence of a plant exchange east across the Atlantic, especially a weedy, non-specimen plant.

On the first half of our trip, from our base in Rome, Charlie and I spent a day going down to the Naples area to tour the ruins of the ancient seaside resort town of Herculaneum. There, we found Rosemary, which is native to coastal Mediterranean areas, growing in huge, shrubby mounds. The aroma coming off the sun-warmed foliage was enticing.

Even though I’d checked the weather forecast, it was a bit of a shock to come home to chilly weather and to trees starting to change into their fall outfits. Happily, all the plants in pots on the patio are still in bloom, making it look almost like summer. I hadn’t planted much in the way of vegetables this year, so it was nice to find the cherry tomatoes still putting out blossoms and with fruits still ripening on the vines.

After the lull of a false summer while abroad, it’s jarring to find myself dropped into autumn and looking at the fall chores to be done . Despite global warming/climate change, the first frost in my area is still around October 20th, and if I want the tomatoes to keep producing for a bit longer, I’ll need to protect them on those frosty nights.

The Farmer’s Almanac website reminds us that first and last frost dates are just a general guideline. “Note that frost dates are only an estimate based on historical climate data and are not set in stone. The probability of a frost occurring after the spring frost date or before the fall frost date is 30%, which means that there is still a chance of frost occurring before or after the given dates.” (https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates/PA/Philadelphia)

Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. Direct e-mail to pamelacbaxter@gmail.com, or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442. Pam’s books for children — Big Life Lessons from Nature’s Little Secrets, and On Grandpa’s Beach in Maine — are available on Amazon, at Amazon.com/author/pamelabaxter.