How the gardening season starts in Venice
While mimosa trees play the major role in early spring in the Lagoon, discover a few secrets about Venetian gardens in late winter and early spring, from the point of view of a gardener.
Dear readers, this post is all about welcoming spring back in our Venetian garden: First impressions of grandmother’s garden in spring, and images of the first blossoms ushering in the gardening season.
Nonna’s garden’s been sleeping in winter: About a week before Christmas, the season begins when frost is not just a possibility but almost certain over night during la luna piena (full moon). That’s why in Venice, we protect sensitive plants like cyclamen and begonias on balconies with plastic sheets, which are taken off in the late morning and then back to cover the plant boxes in the late afternoon1.
During those ten weeks or so, until late February, (almost) no work is done in the walled herb gardens of San Zaccaria. The grass looks slightly brownish, and so do the mossy parts of the courtyard garden. Herbs don’t grow and generally it looks frozen, even on a sunny noon when the sun is shining in January.
But then, all of a sudden, in late February, the light is changing in the Lagoon: skies are taking on a pale azure hue, which means the colors are back! But before I begin telling you more about the first signs of spring and its gardening secrets, do take a look at the sleeping garden in winter:
And then, one day in early February, the very first signs of primavera (spring) are re-appearing. In the little garden, purple crocuses start blossoming, next to pale yellow primrose blossoms appearing from under the dry leaves, which the winds2 accumulated in a corner. And of course, there’s mimosa (I’ll dedicate another post to it because it's just such a favorite here in Venice).
Can you notice the prevailing color of spring in the Venetian gardens is yellow? Not just mimosa, but also narcissi, or the corniolo (cornel cherry tree) blossoming in the image below.
And then there’s one of my personal favorites from the vegetable garden, simply because it looks so good on the plate, as decoration or part of a pasta sauce and even to eat with an omelette: It’s called broccolo fiolaro.
Did you know? In Venice, broccolo is a favorite in winter, offered anywhere at the markets between October and February, but it tastes even lusher in spring. In our vegetable garden, the plant takes a short break in April, not growing new leaves, and is back in May with lots of young sprouts - so tasty! I think it’s best to enjoy young broccolo sprouts in a simple way: Just add fresh garlic greens (aglio) and a hint of chili (peperoncino) and fry it in a pan in olive oil. No spices this time :-) with the exception of just the tiniest hint of cinnamon (cannella).
So when does the gardening season start in the Lagoon, and what do you need to know about it? This is so important to take into account if you want to learn to grow a garden in the Lagoon:
Well, it all depends on the moon and tides: “Moon gardening”, that is “gardening and planting observing the moon phases”, is not a poetic expression here in Venice but holds a special significance in a city exposed to the tides:
In the Lagoon, spring and autumn are the decisive seasons, determining whether plants will grow well and survive the parching summer heat, floods, and winter rains. For example, the weather during the moon phases determines how long we can harvest herbs in the autumn, and whether they will still be alive in the spring of the following year.
Why spring equinox is important for gardeners in Venice
Also, in the Lagoon, the effects of equinox on nature are visible as tidal patterns change in the Lagoon around spring and autumn Equinox.
After spring equinox, the level of salinity is getting more concentrated in the Lagoon as the tides change only once a day, and because the water level is quite low due to the northerly winds (bora) which were prevailing in winter: That was also one of the reasons why many canals run dry during low tide between mid-January and early March. 3
After spring equinox (equinozio di primavera, around 21 March), high tides happen less often and are less pronounced: High tide and low tide occur only once a day. On the other hand, after fall equinox (around 22 September) the tides change four times a day (high tide and low tide arrive twice a day).
Also important to know for gardeners in Venice, as nonna and my neighbor say: “Tides are more intense during full moon (plenilunio) and new moon (novilunio): That means for us gardeners that planting seeds doesn’t make sense during the three days before and after the new moon and full moon, as they may be destroyed by extremely high salinity levels accumulating in the soil”.
Now you can see, not really easy to grow a garden in Venice. It’s all about trial and error, “learning by doing”, and taking into account a number of “natural laws of the Lagoon”.
In the upcoming posts in March, I’’ll take you on a special mimosa walk around Venice (this Substack is not just about Nonna’s garden, but also about garden culture in Venice). You’ll also disocver what the garden looks like in March, and taste Nonna’s favorite spring recipe from one of her cooking journals.
The moon phases are so important in Venice re. temperature and tides: Luna piena (full moon) usually brings on clear and cold days in winter (but NOT in autumn!), while during a winter luna nuova (new moon), days and nights are humid, cloudy and rainy. Also, the tides are more accentuated during full and new moon phases: Acqua alta (high tide) is worse during full OR new moon in autumn, that is between mid-October until just after Christmas.
In January, northerly winds called bora sweep the Lagoon. That means these winds chase out the water masses from the Lagoon, southwards into the Adriatic Sea: Bora winds contribute to the phenomenon of acqua bassa (very low tides) which was particularly evident in January and February 2023 - perhaps you’ve seen the empty canals, and even the water surface of the Grand Canal dropped significantly.
The phenomenon of dry canals during acqua bassa (low tide) in late winter is called Le Secche della Berola in Venice, as my neighbor told me. It was quite serious in February 2023, when the water level in about one third of the canals was too low for ambulances to pass, and for boats in general.