Re: MEDIT-PLANTS digest 2092

Hi Maria,
 
A dry sunny bank, bad soil, steep incline ? And you probably forgot to say you are in a windy place, and maybe have salt laden spray during winter storms ? But I love that ! These are the best conditions to plant good old tough mediterranean plants, which will thrive and give you much pleasure with no watering and little maintenance.
 
For the bank itself here are a few plants you could try : Achillea coarctata, silver foliage spreading by rhizomes, yellow flowers from May ot September ; Ajania pacifica, lovely neat foliage, yellow flowers in October and November ; Artemisia alba, a nice mound of grey green aromatic leaves ; Cistus x pulverulentus, strong spreading habit, deep pink flowers from mid May to mid July ; Hertia cheirifolia, nice ground cover with yellow daisies from February to April ; Phlomis 'Eward Bowles', large leaves and elegant pale yellow inflorescences in May and June ; Salvia lavandulifolia, strongly aromatic foliage, deep blue flowers in June and July ; Teucrium cossonii, a most charming ground-cover with silver felty leaves and rich purple flowers in May and June ; Zauschneria californica (now Epilobium), choose the cultivar 'Western Hills', covered with burning orange red tubular flowers during all summer. Do you want to try a thyme ? Try Thymus capitatus from Crete, it flowers pink in July, when the weather is very hot. A lavender ? Try 'Goodwin Creek Grey', nice woolly dented foliage and purple flowers during a long period (it is supposed to be a hybrid between L. lanata and L. x heterophylla, but I think it is more likely the hybrid between L. lanata and L. dentata, anyone has an idea on that ?). And what about a few grasses to give some lightness and movement to the scene ? You could try Stipa barbata, the beautifus 'angel's hair' always undulating in the breeze, or Ampelodesmos mauritanicus with its light inflorescences reaching two meters high.
 
Now, to spill over the retaining wall, Aptenia cordifolia, Myoporum parviflorum, Jasminum nudiflorum are good and classical plants. If the soil is not too alcaline some trailing Ceaonthus are beautiful ('Yankee Point' though taller is more lime-tolerant). Don't forget of course the prostrate rosemaries, they flower in September - October and again from February to April, which is pretty good. There are many, but among the best for a wall I would select 'Punta di Canelle', incredible cascading stems covered with dark blue flowers, or 'Montagnette', a lovely prostrate rosemary with pure white flowers.
 
Olivier
(in south of France, hot and dry in summer, but pretty cold these last nights, with nice frosty scenes in the morning sun)
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