For anyone who is passionate about planting and flowers: in Orman gardens, annual flower festival has been underway for two weeks and it will run until the end of April. You can find there a huge variety of plants, flower pots, fertilizers, insecticides and so on. They are open from 9 am.
I was there few days ago, spent couple hours wondering around and chatting with gardeners and bought some new plants for my collection. I am mainly focusing on succulents.
Posted by Cheekyferret (Member # 15263) on :
I know someone who would love this, whereabouts are the gardens?
Posted by Ayisha (Member # 4713) on :
Must be time for bed, I read this as Cauliflower festival. Posted by GM44 (Member # 13971) on :
It's between the Giza zoo and Cairo university. They have 5 pound ticket if you want to enter on a car. Many people buy huge plants trees I would say.
Posted by LovedOne (Member # 10222) on :
Here's a map for those wondering. Apparently, Orman is the largest botanical garden in Cairo! Nice
Thanks for all the info, I will pass it on. Posted by *Dalia* (Member # 13012) on :
Thanks for posting this! I need to get lots of plants for my balconies this month, so going there might be a good idea.
How are the prices, Nasto? And do they sell different plants than the ones you usually get here in the nurseries?
Posted by Nasto (Member # 17091) on :
*Dalia*,
They have big variety of plants. The point is that here there are tens of nurseries. So, it's like you visit in one day 50 of them in one place. For sure, there will be something new or unusual. For example, I bought portulakacia afra variegata and senecio herrianus- each for 15 pounds - I could not find them in the nurseries I'd visited in both Cairo and Alexandria. Both There are plenty of pelargoniums, if you are looking for something to add color to your balcony. Of course, cacti, crassulas, chlorophytums, zamioculcas, orange and mandarin trees, bougainvillea of all possible colors.
In general, prices were quite reasonable. At least not higher than in the nurseries I usually buy.
Good luck!
Posted by *Dalia* (Member # 13012) on :
Thanks for the information, you sound quite the expert! I had to google some of those names. Is this senecio herrianus? It looks cute.
My problem (actually a blessing, lol) is that I have several balconies and they are quite big. Now that it's getting warmer, I want to put lots of plants there and make them nice enough for sitting outside. So I want to get as much green and color with as little hassle as possible. I was thinking that bougainvilleas might be a good solution … they are beautiful and grow fast, great to cover walls etc. I'm also going to get some banana trees. What do you think? Any other suggestions?
Posted by Nasto (Member # 17091) on :
Oh, planting is my main hobby
No, this one is senecio rowleyanus. Its leafs are round like balls. Senecio herrianus is very similar but its leafs are slightly elongated like drops here
Regarding the choice of plants, it depends how much sun and wind you have. On a sunny balcony, you can have bougainvillea, yucca, succulents and kalanchoe. They thrive on strong sun and little water. By the way, now they all (except yucca) are blooming. Bougainvillea in a comfortable for it location will bloom until December.
On a less sunny part, where sun comes only afternoon, for example, you can have pelargoniums (they are also blooming now and will give flowers until may be November if you don't forget to water them on time). They are very decorative. I suggest to have several plants in one color. It looks better. You can also get some pots with herbs for nice aroma - basil (here they call it rihan), mint. They are all easy to grow plants.
Posted by nevermind (Member # 6674) on :
Doesn´t Bougeanvillea require quite a lot of earth to really thrive? Maybe not but we just planted last year, after another plant did not justify itself (we needed something to climb up and cover our roof terrace but then got impatient and covered w bamboo instead . We planted it into large metallic oil vats, will see this year what happens - if we get a flowery terrace, or no! Pelargoniums indeed love it in Egypt, had flowers almost all winter or at least early since Feb perhaps, look fabulous just now on balcony.
What I miss is lobelias and petunias, it even seems I have seen them somewhere in Egypt, but do not remember, where. Great for hanging over the balcony, should love sun, fabulous flowers.
Posted by *Dalia* (Member # 13012) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nasto: Regarding the choice of plants, it depends how much sun and wind you have. On a sunny balcony, you can have bougainvillea, yucca, succulents and kalanchoe. They thrive on strong sun and little water. By the way, now they all (except yucca) are blooming. Bougainvillea in a comfortable for it location will bloom until December.
On a less sunny part, where sun comes only afternoon, for example, you can have pelargoniums (they are also blooming now and will give flowers until may be November if you don't forget to water them on time). They are very decorative. I suggest to have several plants in one color. It looks better. You can also get some pots with herbs for nice aroma - basil (here they call it rihan), mint. They are all easy to grow plants.
Thanks!
I have a whole floor in a villa-type house, so there are balconies all around. One has huge sliding windows, so it's more like a winter garden. It's also facing southeast and gets very hot during the day, so I assume tropical plants will do quite well there. Another balcony is getting sun only in the morning, but of course will still be bright enough for most green plants. My kitchen balcony also gets lots of sun, and I have a selection of seeds here to plant herbs. I love having fresh herbs on the balcony. Sadly, I found that the potted herbs I buy here don't last very long. My impression is that the muddy soil they are being planted in is not the best choice.
How do you get your stuff home? Do some of these nurseries offer home delivery? Can you hire a pickup or something like that there? Or do you have to arrange for your transport in advance?
Posted by Nasto (Member # 17091) on :
Nevermind,
My initial dream for bougainvillea was the same - to climb up and cover our balcony. It did climb but did not give flowers. Then, I ruthlessly trimmed the plant and moved to a sunnier corner. I also reduced watering. And it paid me back by such a lush blooming!
I grow it in 6-8 liter pot with local soil (that is, mainly heavy clay soil with sand).
And by the way, I sowed petunia seeds this spring – my first such experiment here in Egypt. Well… not sure they can withstand this climate. I started to put them only for couple hours outdoors in a shadow when the sprouts reached 6 centimeter height – they got sunburns. Anyways, you never know until you try Posted by nevermind (Member # 6674) on :
I lost all my lobelia I tried to grow from seeds I brought from back home, but then I am not such green fingers anyway. Kept it all in sun but covered by plastic - thought they need sun to come up? Maybe not.
I do not need our bougainvillea to climb up so much - it was a previous plant that I wanted to climb. Because bougainvillea is not so pretty down near earth, which is the spot precisely under our eyes because we have them in 70 cm high vats that each hold perhaps 50 litres of earth. It is good news pots do not need to be so big! But I am worried now that they are in the middle of terrace under bamboo roof - kind of in half-shade. Morning sun reaches them somewhat but afternoon sun almost no. So maybe we need to move, if anyone can move those vats! There are no leaves now but some flowers start appearing. While bougainvillea down by the road, i.e. growing in natural earth, seems to be have full lush leaves and flowers...
Less water, that's what we were told, too. But what is less, or what is more? How much/often do you water yours? I have the same problem with our rose hibiscus - too little water and it dries up, too much and leaves get yellow and fall off..
Trimming I did not think of, actually . Will try.
Posted by Nasto (Member # 17091) on :
Last summer I watered my bouga twice a week and in winter once in 10 days. Before watering I stick my finger (full length) in soil and if it still feels moist I postpone watering for couple more days.
I brought petunia seeds from home as well. So, the mother-plants grew in the North. No wonder that the offsprings are not too happy with the such strong sun Posted by Nasto (Member # 17091) on :
*Dalia*,
Your villa seems nice! And you’ve got plenty of room to create summer and winter gardens on your balconies.
Yes, local soil is very heavy. It is recommended to replant all new plants right away after buying. First, you will check the roots. Second, you will adjust the soil. I add to local soil more sand and peat. So it becomes lighter and dries faster.
Our nursery offers all possible services including planting-replanting, fertilizing, moving. But I usually do everything myself. I acquire my collection pot by pot, gradually. If I see some plant that I like I put it in a wish list and then go to a nearby nursery and buy from them. Then I fall in love with another plant and go to look for it. And so on and on…
Posted by LovedOne (Member # 10222) on :
Hubby and I just got back from the gardens. Walked around for about an hour, looking at plants and taking some pictures.
It was really nice to see so many green and flowering plants, especially plants that I know from back home that I don't usually see here in Cairo.
It cost us 1 LE each to get in and 2 LE for the camera. Not bad.
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trees I would say.