Sonja and Peter are the custodians of a marvellous mature garden north of Lagos which they have created and developed over nearly 40 years.
They bought the land with a ruin in 1986 but did not move to the property permanently until 2001. Sonja showed me a photograph of the original ruin and what is now the garden – all you can see is a hillside covered with sticky Cistus, which has beautiful white flowers with a maroon spot at the base of the petals. A solitary cork oak sadly became an accidental victim of the new house build.
The ground is extremely rocky with very little topsoil, so their first task was to bring in two–three tons of topsoil from Monchique each year as they developed different parts of the garden. Sonja spent many years living in Italy, which influenced her planting choices. Very early on, she planted two pines, some cypresses and olives to give structure to the garden. An Atlantic cedar (fortuitously mislabelled as a prostrate juniper) was also planted by the entrance gate to the garden and now 30 years old, it makes a dramatic statement.
A path leads you beside the house with flowerbeds and raised beds on the left-hand side planted with Cannas, various bulbs, pinks, lilies, Salvias and Sonja’s precious roses, which are her passion. In front of the house is a small lawn and beyond that, an enticing shady pergola divides the garden from the swimming pool.
We sat and chatted under the pergola, which is Sonja’s favourite seating area and for good reason. Like me, she loves dark foliage in a garden and from this vantage point, you get a beautiful view of a large border with a copper-leafed cherry tree at the far end and a purple-leafed shrub Euphorbia and a smoke bush (Cotinus coggyria ‘Royal Purple’) creating structure underplanted with the spectacular Aeonium Schwarzkopf. The border actually slopes down to a lower level and cleverly makes the transition with a beautiful succulent rockery with some unusual specimens.
Walking back towards the house via the lower path beside the rockery, Sonja has planted some lovely bottlebrushes, which were in full flower. Higher up the hillside, the garden is less formal, but there is a path you can follow which has more surprises, including a superb white wisteria which was at its peak for my visit.
I asked Sonja about her successes and failures. She told me that they planted a monkey puzzle tree too close to the house, which had to be removed due to its invasive roots. She’s also disappointed that irises do not like her garden, but she has managed to keep an iris going that originally came from her mother’s garden, which I put down to sheer determination.
Her successes are many, but she is justifiably proud of her huge rose collection with over sixty varieties. Her favourite rose is Chandos Beauty, a bush rose with heavily scented creamy salmon-pink coloured flowers. Another of her passions is succulents. She started with six different ones over 20 years ago and now has over 175, which really is impressive.
I ended my visit sitting in a shady corner admiring the vista and listening to melodious bird song and the wind rustling through the trees and reflecting on their amazing creation from such unpromising beginnings.
Tamsin Varley is a member of Clube Dos Bons Jardins, a small, friendly multi-national garden club that meets at different locations around the Algarve on the 2nd Tuesday of every month except over the summer, with an optional lunch afterwards.
Photos © Tamsin Varley
