The Gardening Blog

Known since ancient times, this aromatic plant with a fragile appearance and similar to parsley is very easy to grow and - if sown at the right time and with the right climate - it grows abundantly without any problems. Besides its leaves, even coriander seeds can be used in the kitchen. It belongs to the same family as fennel, dill and parsley, aromatic umbellifers with which it share a high percentage of essential oil contents.

Garlic is a bulb belonging to the Lilaceae family: its scientific name is Allium latin word that means hot and burning. This plant is used mainly in the kitchen to flavor many dishes, however, it has also a therapeutic use as it has many beneficial properties,recognised even in modern medicine.

In Italian it’s called "girasole" (Sun-turner) because the flowers looks for solar light and heat by following its path from the dusk until dawn and rotates its stem to receive it as much as possible during the day (a phenomenon called heliotropism). In Germanic languages its name is “sunflower”, both for the characteristic just described, and for the bright yellow color of its petals.

The dwarf dichondra is a herbaceous species belonging to the Convolvulaceae: it grows abundantly and vigorously without needing a lot of maintenance and because of this it is widely used to create turfs. In fact, it does not suffer if it’s walked on or crushed, because it can regenerate itself quickly.

The cultivation of a vegetable garden is not only a physical activity to obtain healthy and tasty fresh vegetables, but is also an important moment to learn a lot of good things about agriculture, like, the choice of vegetable seeds. The growth and evolution of plants can be carefully observed in the various phases such as sowing and harvesting.

Oregano is a small aromatic plant that, depending on its variety, can be found as a shrub of reduced height or weed: it includes between 45 and 50 species all originated in the Mediterranean area. That can be easily explained with the fact that the plant belongs to the Mediterranean scrub and that rapidly and healthy develops in this climate. Oregano is part of the Lamiaceae family and amongst the most famous varieties there is common oregano and majorana oregano, also called majoran.

Bellis perennis, better known as “common daisy” or “daisy”, is one of the most common flowers in all the European countries. The etymology of the name of this flower is very peculiar: some attribute it to one of the Danadis, daughters of Danaus king of Argo, or Bellide. According to others, instead, the etymology of the name bellis perennis, derives from the latin term “bellum”, which means war, thanks to the flower’s ability to heal battle wounds. Another option is that the name of the flower derives from the latin adjective “bellus”, which denotes its beauty.

Sage is an aromatic plant with an intense perfume: much like mint and thyme it belongs to the Lamiaceae family: its scientific name is salvia officinalis and it is the most common and known species of the sages group. It’s the one that is most commonly used in the kitchen.