Re: Mertensia maritima

Having just returned from a fabulous tour of gardens
and nurseries in the Seattle/Vashon Island/Bainbridge
Island area, I am smitten by several plants seen in
gardens and nurseries there that were new to me. 
Mertensia maritima was one such plant, (with 4 freshly
purchased at Heronswood Nursery), and seen to
perfection in Linda Cochrane's Garden, Nancy Heckler's
Oyster Point Garden and the Elisabeth Miller Botanical
Gardens in the Seattle area.  I am not sure if all of
these gardens actually contained M. maritima or the
similar appearing M. simplicissima, but in each garden
it was spectacular as a succulent low spreading ground
cover with glaucus leaves, looking somewhat like a
looser and larger growing Euphorbia myrsinites, but
with blue flowers.  From the reference books I've
consulted, it would appear to prefer cool summer
climates, sharp drainage, and?  Is anyone growing this
in a climate more mediterannean than Seattle, and
could give advice as to how best to site this plant?

For anyone considering a trip to Seattle, Heronswood
Nursery and Display Gardens are not to be missed, and
if you can get to see the above mentioned gardens,
don't miss out!  I'd also strongly recommend a visit
to the Little and Lewis Garden/Gallery,(the fairly
recent Pacific Horticulture Magazine article and
photos don't begin to capture the whimsy and charms of
this garden), and the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge
Island.  Take an extra suitcase for shopping the
nurseries, as the temptations at Heronswood and Wells
Medina Nurseries alone are irristible.  

Now I will get to start exploring the adaptive
capabilities of more northerly,less mediterannean
plants in combination with the more subtropical plants
I already have. (Do the two cancel each other out, and
create a default mediterannean garden of plants?  Or
is it just ever more eclectic?).  Seattle gardens and
nurseries opened up a whole new universe of ideas, as
well as destroying some preconceived ideas of what
pacific northwest gardens were like.  We had the
benefit of some rather untypical Seattle weather, as
it was hot and sunny for 3 out of 4 days there, with
only the last day with cool drizzle and light rain. 
Staying on a houseboat on Lake Union, with views
toward downtown and surrounded by lush floating
container gardens with many plantings straight out of
the Bay Area was an additional treat, but the local
Canadian Geese are their version of our deer and
raccoons! (Everyone has their own probem critters to
deal with!)

TIA,
David Feix 

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