Category: Plants
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April in the Mediterranean Garden: Managing Abundance
Spring is probably easy in just about any garden anywhere. It is definitely easy in our Mediterranean garden. The spring rains were plentiful again this year and so for once there are no water restrictions in force. The sun is getting stronger by the day and everything grows by leaps and bounds. Sometimes I just…
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Ceanothus
Ceanothus is an American native, growing mostly in California. It thrives on rocky or sandy soil and is resistant to salt as well as to drought. Soil that is too humid or a location with too much shade will shorten its life expectancy – which is only around 10 years anyway. The colors of Ceanothus…
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Lettuce Tips & Tricks
In this Mediterranean garden I plant lettuce between September and May. The mild winters are wonderful for growing lettuce and lots of other hardy greens and vegetables like cabbages and beets. Summers are definitely too hot – even when grown under a shade canopy, lettuces won’t thrive, will suffer from pests, and will taste bitter.…
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Cotinus coggygria
Cotinus coggygria is a Mediterranean native but also grows in Southwest Asia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and China. It thrives on sunny and dry, rocky slopes up to altitudes of 2400 meters. It reasonably thrives in my low-lying mediterranean garden at 50 masl but it doesn’t grow very big, staying far below its potential of 2-3…
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Salvia / Rosmarinus officinalis
Yes I know that the scientific name is Salvia rosmarinus. But I’ve always known and grown to love it under the “Rosmarinus” name and I think there are so many kinds of Salvias in the world they won’t miss this one in the family. Besides, to me it looks and smells nothing like salvia. Anyway,…
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Asparagus acutifolius
In March and April seemingly all of Occitanie goes crazy for wild asparagus. It is found in woody or uncultivated places, like the garrigue, on dry and sunny soil. I haven’t found masses of it while out walking but every spring I do find quite a few young shoots in the garden on the slopes,…