Tag: perennials
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Nepeta
When I came here I had some bad memories of Nepeta becoming the mangled victim of deadly cat passion with my own and the neighbors’ cats rolling around on it, digging it out, eating it up, and finally killing it. But it turns out that not all cats are created equal regarding the effects of…
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Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Unsung hero of the dry garden. Ceratostigma plumbaginoides – the “blue-flowered leadwort” – is a native from Western China. It grows and grows, unfettered by heat or drought, and blooms from June through September in a very beautiful bright blue over somber green leaves. The leaves may also turn red in the fall. I had…
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Dorycnium
These two mediterranean plants belong to the Lotus genus. They need light, poor, and well-drained soil, are very drought tolerance (code de secheresse 4-5, according to Filippi) and tolerate frost down to -12℃ if planted correctly. Both are supposed to have a limited lifespan but to reseed themselves easily. So far they haven’t done so…
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Teucrium – Germander
Teucrium, also known as “germander”, is a large plant genus with about 250 species of flowering perennials and shrubs worldwide. Most of them are native to the Mediterranean region and thus are pretty heat- and drought-tolerant while also being frost hardy to -10℃ or more. They are simple to cultivate, have no great demands besides…
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Salvias for a Mediterranean Garden
My husband collects lighters. I collect garden plants. One the one hand I want to have as many different plants as possible and on the other hand as many interesting varieties of one kind of plant as possible. One of those kinds of plants are Salvias. Salvias are of course predestined for a Mediterranean garden…
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Lychnis coronaria
The friendly and well-behaved sister of Silene latifolia, Lychnis coronaria is found in the wild anywhere between Italy and the Himalayas. It grows on rocky slopes and in dappled woods and copses and in our Mediterranean garden it tolerates sun, heat and drought quite well. Along with the three bright pink plants I put in…