Tag: flowers
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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…
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Tulbaghia violacea
With a Filippi “code de secheresse” of 5 and its pretty as well as edible leaves and flowers, Tulbaghia violacea is an excellent plant for mediterranean gardens. This plant of the Allium family comes from South Africa and flowers in spring and fall in my garden. It tolerates up to -10°C and needs a light,…
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Perovskia atriplicifolia
What a perplexing plant! I see it everywhere around here with its great big bushes of purple flowers abuzz with bees in late summer and fall. Perovskia are supposed to be superbly drought-resistant plants, thriving and rapidly growing in even the poorest, most arid soil. Yet none of the ones I’ve been planting in my…
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Leucophyllum
These are deceptively simple looking shrubs – until they bloom. Then they become an explosion of vivid pink to magenta or lavender violet flowers, appearing and re-appearing mostly from August through October, but the first flowers can begin as early as in June or July. Leucophyllum is native to the Southwestern US and Mexico and also…
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Ipomoea Batatas – Sweet Potatoes
Pretty (though few) flowers and tasty fruit – Ipomoea batatas or Sweet Potato work well here in this Mediterranean garden. The wild form of Ipomoea batatas is native to Central America. It was imported to Asia by the Spanish and to Africa by freed African slaves. Today it’s grown in almost all tropical and subtropical…