Re: What exactly is a mediterranean climate anyway?

On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 11:01 PM, Michael Mace <mikemace@att.net> wrote:
> Speaking as a Californian who successfully grows some mediterranean plants
> and fails consistently with others, I'm convinced that many of my struggles
> have come from a naive assumption that everything "mediterranean" needs the
> same basic conditions.

Hi Mike -

Nice articulation of some of the questions surrounding defining the
mediterranean climate.  Yes, it is complicated and there are portions
of the world under 'dispute' by climatologists who get to disagree
like other scientists often do.

With regard to growing plants from any other mediterranean climate in
California, some fit more easily, others not so much.  This is just
like ALL California native plants cannot be grown easily in ALL
California gardens.  Soil is perhaps the most commonly neglected
factor - beyond whether it is or is not well-drained, there are all
kinds of other aspects that some species specifically require.  Some
are more adaptable to variability of these conditions, others are not.
 We grow Teucrium fruticans here in California without much trouble,
but I have had a pure white flowered form with greener leaves that
refused to thrive regardless of all the various soils and exposures I
tried.  Once when Olivier Filippi (who runs a nursery of Mediterranean
plants in the South of France) was visiting, I happened to mention
this problem.  He'd been looking for this plant for a long time and I
ended up sending it home with him.  He reports that it is thriving
happily in his trial garden!  It apparently prefers his soil
composition which is more alkaline that California soils.

Hybrids often show more tolerance of varied soil conditions.
Conversely, Olivier shared with me Centaurea cineraria (probably C. c.
subsp. umbrosa) which he collected in Sicily.  It looks almost
identical to the plant we call in gardens Centaurea gymnocarpa,
confirming my belief that the garden plant is in fact a hybrid that C.
cineraria and another species.  One of the reasons I think this is
true is that our garden C. gymnocarpa is so easily grown in almost any
soil, and under varied conditions (which, of course, makes it a great
garden plant).  The C. cineraria from Olivier, although it looks
identical (I seem to be the only one who can casually tell them apart)
it is very fussy about soil and water and has almost died on us a few
times!  Interestingly, our local finches also find it a very favorable
nest lining and they often do their best to tear the plant apart!!
(even though the garden C. gymnocarpa is growing in the garden also,
bearing the same type of softly felted gray leaves, remaining
untouched!).

So, if you are having trouble with a species you are trying to grow,
finding a different clone or a hybrid that involved said species might
provide better results.  But as in any garden, we should follow what
our local conditions tell us through which plans thrive or don't,
regardless of whether gardeners in the same town or on a different
continent have experience different from our own.

-- 
SeÃn O.
sean (at) gimcw dot org
hortulus-aptus.com
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index