Category: Plants
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Phyla (Lippia) nodiflora var. canescens
I am officially in love and over the moon with Phyla nodiflora! I first noticed this tiny plant along one of my walking routes, greening and blooming prettily all summer long, regardless of heat and drought, along an asphalt road through the vineyards. I figured even then it must be the perfect lawn substitute and…
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Lomelosia minoana
Also called Scabiosa minoana, this native of Crete is simply a joy to grow in a Mediterranean garden. I bought this plant from Jardin sec and planted it in December 2023. It has been growing wider and heigher since, blooming profusely in soft mauve from May through July. The cream-colored seed heads stay all through…
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Trees for a Dry Mediterranean Garden
When we re-did our garden layout in the winter of 2023/2024, the goal was to turn the wide open vegetable and flower garden, where everything burned up in the summer, into a “park garden” with lots of shade trees. I researched a lot and made up a nice little shortlist of more or less drought-tolerant…
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Choosing Plants for a Mediterranean Garden
The Mediterranean climate is not famous for mild summers, generous rains or generous freshwater supplies. Instead it is famous for scorching summer temperatures, heatwaves with up to 40 degrees and months on end without rain: difficult planting conditions. It only makes sense therefore to choose plants wisely instead of trying to establish old favorites from…
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Hyssopus officinalis
Native to Europe and the Middle East, Hyssop has been both a kitchen and a healing herb since the Middle Ages. In the garden it is a small woody (sub-)shrub (about 45×45 cm), with semi-evergreen aromatic foliage and purple or pink flowers from June through July or even through September in less hot regions. It…
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Sedum & Sempervivum
Sedum and sempervivum are very drought and frost tolerant plants and are sold as such by garden centers. However, all will not work in our particular Mediterranean climate and I can only kick myself for omitting “due diligence” research before trusting garden center descriptions. Petrosedum sediforme This true mediterranean native grows all over this garden…