Autumn is here. The early morning view from Casa Debbio is misty and golden.


Summer was wet and cool. Some things in the garden grew well and others did not. There was not much success with tomatoes, but the raspberries and strawberries did well. I have been picking the odd raspberry and strawberry every day. Bees are still buzzing around the mint flowers.



A handsome spider is building a web nearby.

I don’t know the name of these plants, but they grew like mad this summer. I will be planting  more of these next spring.

The lavender along the driveway did very well and the house is now full of lavender that I have been busily cutting from the bushes.

The geraniums have been beautiful.

The mufloni (wild goats) have been coming ever closer to the house and have eaten all the geraniums along the curved wall at the entrance to the driveway.

Here is a reminder of my spring plantings.

Here are the autumn selections. I bought nearly 40 fruit trees to plant on the terraces around the house.


We have apple, pear, cherry, plum, peach, fig, olive, pomegranate and persimmon trees on the various terraces around the house.


We are reluctantly cutting down some pine trees. Our friends in Vergemoli have been encouraging us to do this for some time. They are not native to the area and take over from the chestnuts and hazelnut trees. We have a dense group at the entrance to the driveway and Battista and Rocco are going to thin them out so the other trees have room to grow.

A large chestnut tree has already become visible after a huge pine was cut down.

Rocco will also clear an area soon to plant more olive trees and prepare the terrace below the house ready for my next project…creating a beautiful flower garden, full of peonies, lavender, roses and whatever else I can get to grow.
I am hoping the spring blossoms will look amazing. Some of our terraces are visible from the village and I think everyone will be happy to see Casa Debbio flourishing once more.