
Our tropical island is very green and has the most beautiful flowers, almost all year round. We have a huge bougainvillea in our garden which was blooming from August to November.
But it were hanging flower baskets filled abundantly with Geraniums and Petunias that made my heart filled with joy. We saw them end of October hanging on the porch of a Creole house in a little village. My husband and I both knew these could give our terrace the cosy touch we still missed to feel at home.
The next weekend we went to a garden center and bought hanging baskets. We even felt lucky because they were on sale. Little did we know the season was over.
Our gardener listened to my story of how happy I was with “my flowers” and didn't want to ruin my enthusiasm, but he thought they would not survive long in the heat we were expecting in the coming months. Summer was only starting and promised to be hot and humid. We tried to keep them as long as possible, but after a few weeks they were dried out, even in the shade and with lots of water.
The baskets disappeared in the garage and waited for the next "winter" to come. The last couple of weeks the temperature dropped by 10 degrees to around 28 during the day and 21 at night. May is a good month to plant flowers on Reunion Island, so last weekend we filled our flower baskets again and hope this time we can enjoy them for months instead of weeks. All in all, the timing is not different to the one in Europe, except we didn't have to wait for the Ice Saints having passed mid-May!
But it were hanging flower baskets filled abundantly with Geraniums and Petunias that made my heart filled with joy. We saw them end of October hanging on the porch of a Creole house in a little village. My husband and I both knew these could give our terrace the cosy touch we still missed to feel at home.
The next weekend we went to a garden center and bought hanging baskets. We even felt lucky because they were on sale. Little did we know the season was over.
Our gardener listened to my story of how happy I was with “my flowers” and didn't want to ruin my enthusiasm, but he thought they would not survive long in the heat we were expecting in the coming months. Summer was only starting and promised to be hot and humid. We tried to keep them as long as possible, but after a few weeks they were dried out, even in the shade and with lots of water.
The baskets disappeared in the garage and waited for the next "winter" to come. The last couple of weeks the temperature dropped by 10 degrees to around 28 during the day and 21 at night. May is a good month to plant flowers on Reunion Island, so last weekend we filled our flower baskets again and hope this time we can enjoy them for months instead of weeks. All in all, the timing is not different to the one in Europe, except we didn't have to wait for the Ice Saints having passed mid-May!