Tag: annuals
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Aizoacea & Mesembryanthemum
The Aizoaceae family is endemic to South Africa and has brought forth a multitude of mostly low-growing, spreading plants with fleshy leaves and bright flowers that work well as ground cover on dry soils in full sun. Several of its members are know as “ice plant” or “mesembryanthemum”. Interestingly, even “New Zealand Spinach” that grows…
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Tagetes patula / erecta
I used to find the tidy orange marigold borders in Swiss gardens incredibly stuffy. I also did not like the scent of marigolds, so I would have never have planted them. But I’ve tried them here as companion plants in the veggie garden and if nothing else they do make a splendid show of color…
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Verbascum
Verbascum is a family of over 400 different species of flowering plants, commonly called mullein, some of which are used in herbal medicine. Verbascum species are native to Eurasia with the Mediterranean being the home of the largest number of varieties. But despite this and despite Verbascum being well-suited for dry and chalky soils, I’ve…
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Lobularia maritima
Another one of those seemingly boring little things that turn out to be “superplants” in the dry garden. Lobularia maritima is a Mediterranean native and a fast-growing, long-blooming ground cover with small white or purple, honey-scented flowers. In my garden, depending on location, they bloom in the spring before going dry in the summer (can…
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Antirrhinum
I always judged Snapdragons to be a bit of a stuffy, boring flower for stuffy, bourgoeis gardens. How unjust I was – and how wrong. Since they kept popping up in my garden uninvited I have learned that Antirrhinum are a Mediterranean native and very drought-tolerant. They can be annuals or short-lived perennials that grow…
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Tropaeolum
Since Tropaeolum majus stems from rather more humid and/or mountainous places in South America it’s easy to see that this is not really a Mediterranean or rather a drought-resistant plant. That said it will work in late spring and early summer as an aphid trap in the vegetable garden. In the heat of summer it…