Olive Region
The great plain of upper Italy has a winter climate colder than that of the British Isles. The olive and the characteristic shrubs of the northern coasts of the Mediterranean do not thrive in the open air, but the valuable tree ripens its fruit in sheltered places at the foot of the mountains, and survives along the deeper valleys and the shores of the Italian lakes.
The evergreen oak grows wild on the rocks around the alpine lake, Lake Garda, and even lemons are cultivated on a large scale, with partial protection in winter. The olive has been known to survive severe cold when of short duration, but it cannot be cultivated with success where frosts are prolonged or where the mean winter temperature falls below 5.5°C (42°F). To produce fruit requires at least 24°C (75°F) during the day through four or five months of the summer and autumn.
Read more about this topic: Climate Of The Alps
Famous quotes containing the words olive and/or region:
“Even when seen from near, the olive shows
A hue of far away. Perhaps for this
The dove brought olive back, a tree which grows
Unearthly pale, which ever dims and dries,
And whose great thirst, exceeding all excess,
Teaches the South it is not paradise.”
—Richard Wilbur (b. 1921)
“Alvina felt herself swept ... into a dusky region where men had dark faces and translucent yellow eyes, where all speech was foreign, and life was not her life. It was as if she had fallen from her own world on to another, darker star, where meanings were all changed.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)