Planting Mediterranean

By Patricia Diaz, from the March 2005 Newsletter

You’ve probably all heard of Mediterranean diets, so why not Mediterranean gardens? When you think “Mediterranean” you probably think of sunny, warm Tuscany and wonder how plants from there would thrive here in the Palouse. Actually, the Mediterranean region is rimmed by mountains that freeze in winter and areas that bake in the summer, making for very tough plants. That’s why these beautiful gray-green and silver plants also do so well here.

Mediterranean plants are compact and hardy, great additions to our gardens. Since they are considered dry-climate plants, they don’t need a lot of water and thus help save our precious resources. Most of us are familiar with the Mediterranean herbs lavender, rosemary, sage, santolina, and thyme. They’re tough as well as beautiful. You can also go for other “looks” in your garden whether it’s subtle foliage, vivid colors, or shady shelter for a hot day.

Historically, people have put Mediterranean plantings in courtyard containers, as they are well suited to this treatment. Greeks and Romans grew herbs and citrus trees in pots close to their houses both for color as well as for eating and cooking. Today, we put these plants on our decks and porches as well as in our gardens. I think one of the most pleasing of garden sights is the beauty of lavender’s flowers surrounded by the gray-green and silver leaves of the plant.

What kinds of plants are considered to be in the Mediterranean family? Many plants that are native to the western US, including sagebrush, and many with fuzzy textures and aromatic scents. In the ground cover category, consider Greek Yarrow (Achillea ageratifolia), a very long-lived plant with small white flowers in the spring that grows 4–10” tall and about 18” wide. Horehound (Marrubium rotundifolia) is another and grows to about the same size. Wooly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) is one of my favorites and is probably the toughest of the thymes, standing up even to lots of foot traffic. It grows to about 2–3” high and about 3’ wide. Mount Atlas daisy (Anacyclus depressus) has white flowers and needs good drainage. It grows 3 by 15”.

In the mounding perennial category, good choices include Anthemis bierbersteiniana which has yellow daisy-like flowers in the spring. Artemisia versicolor ‘Seafoam’ does extremely well in heavy clay soil and likes a little summer water. It grows 8 x 24” with yellow flowers surrounded by frothy silver foliage. Cranesbill (Erodium chrysanthum) is a compact mound of fernlike leaves with small pale yellow flowers, growing 6 x 12”. My favorite in this category is the English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), with ‘Hidcote’ being a very good aromatic choice with deep purple flowers. ‘Mitcham Gray’ is very cold hardy lavender that grows faster than ‘Hidcote’ and is a little taller at 20 x 20”. Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’ has aromatic foliage and lavender blue flowers. It grows to 15 x 24”.

Salvia officinalis ‘Minimus’ forms a dense mound of gray green leaves with lavender blue flowers and tolerates clay soil nicely, better than other culinary sages, and grows to 15 x 18”. Stachys byzantina ‘Big Ears’ has great fuzzy leaves, grows in both the sun and the shade, in either wet or dry conditions, and grows to 6 x 24”. Lastly, there is Tanacetum densum amanii, which is silvery white with felt-like leaves and yellow button flowers. It likes well-drained soil with full sun, and grows to 6”x15”.

If you prefer the vivid color Mediterraneans, you can certainly grow them outdoors in the summer but you probably will have to bring them inside for the winter. My very favorite in this category is the bougainvillea, which comes in gorgeous shades of red and hot pink. Consider, too, the kangaroo paw which has stunning finger-like red flowers.

Other familiar choices include grasses, yarrows, Russian sage, blue fescue, blue hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii), Cape mallow (Anisodontea x hypomandarum), and rockrose.

The Mediterraneans look stunning in any garden but are enhanced even more by dry creek beds, fountains, rock or gravel pathways, rustic garden benches, etc. You just can’t beat the colors, textures, and scents of the Mediterranean plantings. I hope you’re as inspired as I am to include these in this year’s choices.

(For further research, read Sun-Drenched Gardens: The Mediterranean Style by Jan Smithen.)

Pat Diaz gardens on the eastern edge of the Palouse. She is really thinking about gardens early this year, as there is no snow, the birds are thinking about nesting already, and bushes are leafing out. A very strange winter indeed.

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