Greening the desert

Phlomis lanata - Jerusalem sage

Phlomis lanata or Jerusalem sage was an introduction to the garden this year it's sage coloured leaves are hairy like many Mediterranean plants a useful mechanism for capturing moisture when the humidity is high. Although this is a tough plant and can tolerate the hottest and driest conditions it is none the less a showy plant with many bright yellow blooms. The flowers which appear in two stages are held above the plant by almost leafless stems. First a ruffled collar of flower blossom opens, the stem continues to grow several inches before producing a more compact flower at the shoot tip. This plant is attractive to pollinating insects too.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

As if the farmers were not suffering enough with the effects of a three year drought, they are now faced with a plague of burrowing field mice which attack root crops. Storks help a little in the control of the vermin but so far the mice are free of serious predators. The ferrel cats which are numerous seem to prefer hanging around the refuse sites and feed on leftovers from the dinning table.

70% shortfall!

The Generaltat de Catalunya website has published the official rainfall figures for our region.

Our finca is in the orange coloured area on the extreme top right.

A dry water year

% Rainfall compared to the climatic average (2006–2007)
2006-2007 was the third consecutive year to register a more or less generalised deficit in rainfall levels

The 2006-2007 water year, which ran from 1st September 2006 to 31st August 2007, is considered to have been dry in most of Catalonia, as it rained between 70% and 90% with regard to the climatic average. Despite being the third consecutive year in which most of Catalonia registered rainfall levels lower than the average, this year was not as extreme as the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 water years.

This data was extracted from the report drawn up by the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) based on the information about rainfall collected from the automatic meteorological stations (EMAs).

The shortage of rainfall was most notable in the central Pre-Pyrenees area, specifically in the upper valley of the River Llobregat, with values lower than 70% compared to the climatic average. This was also the case in certain points of the upper valleys of the Rivers Segre and Ter.

Further information

Note from the del SMC (110KB)
Report on the 2006-2007 water year (2,5MB) (cat)
The Climate in Catalonia

Related topic: The Environment

Legal notice | about the web | © 1995-2007 Generalitat de Catalunya