Mediterranean

Choice little alpine from the heights of Syria, Lebanon and Turkey which is remarkably hardy. Sue brought this out west with her from her garden in northern Vermont in case you think we're making stuff up. Which we do but we're not this time. Perfect low mats of small rounded gray leaves and white spring flowers. Its former name of Eunomia was most apt referring to the Greek goddess of lawful conduct and order as well as being the spring goddess of green pastures. This is indeed a well-mannered plant who has not once caused ripple of horticultural discord here..

Dwarf form of Sweet Myrtle that should be a great addition to the evergreen shrub palette here in PT. Hardiness is increased with less water in summer and likes a nice sunny spot - we can do this! Aromatic foliage when crushed with small fragrant white flowers late summer. This has got to be deer resistant although the cute vermin are cultivating a palette for deer-proof food. This will get just 3'-4 tall and rounded and will be happy in drier, hotter sites although it tolerates more consistently moist conditions just fine.

Just call her Molly the Witch. This fabled Peony is a choice species from the Caucasus region with impossible to improve upon single yellow goblets for flowers. The red new growth in spring evokes some avant garde asparagus. Showy blue-black seeds mingle with the red infertile ovules in large seedpods in late summer staking claim to ornament of equal consideration to that of the flowers. These are plants whose origins lie with our late friend, mentor and knucklehead Steve Doonan and he would be so pleased to see these listed here. This was formerly the species mlokosewitschii but Hong has reduced it to a subspecific rank under P. daurica in his daunting 2008 monograph on the genus and darned if we are going to argue with him - dude is serious. These are youngsters that will take a couple years to get to blooming size.

A white flowered variant of this familiar Geranium whose flowers are backed by a green calyx rather than pink which adds to its overall indispensable lightness of being. The paler than normal green leaves accentuate this and makes this valuable for brightening a somber corner or tempering hotter colors. This was found on Mt Olympus in Greece on a Ness Botanic Garden Expedition and introduced by the same. We should have thought more about our name - 'White-Far' 'Far White' 'White Reach' 'Reach White' just doesn't get it - those Brits one-up us on plants again - buggers! This will handle dry shade to mostly sun and is nearly a mythic plant for those tough places and somehow thrives under the regime of absentee gardening.

We adore the Halimiums as they have proved to be amply hardy here at Far Reaches, the nearest thing to a Russian Steppe that western Washington offers. Low growing evergreen shrub clad in grayish foliage and not shy at all yellow flowers with precise carmine pyramids at the base of each petal. Good drainage.

One of the classic alpines for rock gardens and one that should be on the "Easy Alpines for Beginners" list if it isn't already. Low tight mats of small evergreen leaves topped by fuzzy spherical violet-blue flowers in early summer, this looks good all the time. This particular one is from a Hinkley collection in Turkey.

Moon Carrot. Freakishly good plant with gray-blue leaves with an impressive mid to late summer branched inflorescence sporting compound umbels touched in pink then maturing white. Plant nerdishness meets high-end design with this one. Immediate full disclosure - this is biennial but reseeds so do not fear. Good drainage is key such as a sandier soil.

Compact little plant that lends itself to formal edging as it is naturally a very tight, small rounded dome of small green leaves that gets its groove on with a shameless display of yellow button flowers. We will never be confused with formal and in keeping, our plant is immensely happy in our free-form dry garden. Just a quick shearing of the spent flowers and good to go. Deer proof.

This Greek representative of the delightful alpine primula relative hails from the eponymous Pindus mountains. Characteristic glossy evergreen 'little coin foliage' underlies the distinctive fringed cone flowers. Those flowers take on a lovely dusky purple that pronounce it's maturity and propensity for depth and pretension over its more common, populist cousins, a real kill joy at family gatherings, but an understated joy in the rock garden.

Andalusian Dutchman's Pipe. Native to Portugal, Spain and hopping across Gibraltar to North Africa, this curious vine with its heart-shaped leaves always gives pause with its small mahogany-purple flowers shaped like trippy little saxophones. We find it nigh unto impossible to walk by without stopping to admire the pixie quirkiness. Comparatively large seed pods follow the flowers.

Silver Feather Grass is one of the most graceful and curious of all perennial grasses. From a low clump, spectacular flower spikes rise to 30" unfurling curled streamers that jive in the breeze. These corkscrew feathers fly off carrying a single long, weighted seed which uses the wind to self-drill itself into the ground. Drought tolerant and kinetic.

Poet's or Alexandrian Laurel. Panache oozes from the phylloclades of this haute shade shrub. Before you get nervous, phylloclades are leaf-like organs of modified stem tissue as this nonpareil evergreen is so far beyond the cutting edge that true leaves are just so yesterday. Small green flowers to delight a microscopist, showy red berries in fall. Imagine wearing this crown of laurel in ancient Greece after winning the marathon. I can visualize the wearing but am having a bit of difficulty focusing on the running part. Now if it was a weeding marathon, I would have to say, let's get it on! These aren't big plants that you will get by any means as they are slow to go but we have gotten the painfully slow beginning out of the way so it is all good from here. You can't go unless you start.

A serious bit of yellow on this rock garden gem. The dome of small silver leaves is completely obscured by the mass of yellow flowers in May and June here. We let ours go to seed so we can enjoy more seedlings. This is visually nearly identical to three other distantly related species in the Mediterranean and may reflect parallel evolution from similar habitats. Very good drainage. low organic matter component and dry conditions.

2nd generation from Turkey of this usually perennial Foxglove. The flowers, while not huge, more than compensate with a stellar performance - essentially the same credo I have lived to generally good effect. The small hairy-lipped pale yellow flowers densely pack the stems, blurring the line between plant and art.

Truly a Sea Holly as this Eryngium is a dune plant throughout a good part of Europe. Hard to beat texturama for the dry garden, Mediterranean style or really, an ol' garden as long as you aren't too nice to it. Good drainage in lean soil and you can bask in the splendor of the gray, lightly spiny foliage and the small light purple flower buttons.

Horned Poppy. Officially designated as a Xeric Awesome Perennial, these originally came to us as seeds from Panayoti Kelaidis' home garden in Denver. This has rosettes of foliage which erupt in early summer to 2'-3' branched displays of orange to yellow poppy flowers. Nifty long curved seed pods too. This really wants good drainage in lean soil with hot sun where it will self sow which is good as the parent plants can be short lived. We had one make a low wide dome of gray-green foliage and we counted between 400-500 orange-yellow flowers on it - hopefully some of these seedlings will carry on the tradition. Some of these will be Glaucium flavum, some will be grandiflroum and others will be obvious hybrids but none will disappoint.

AKA 'Beth Chatto'. This is going around in this country under the Beth's name when in fact it is simply one of her Desert Island plants - one that she simply can't be without. Finely cut as a feather silvery leaves on a low evergreen plant which thrives on dry and sun. Small yellow flowers.

Quirky little evergreen vine from the Mediterranean that brings delight far out of proportion to the size of its flowers. Small curved pipe-like flowers are a subtle burnished pale flesh on the outside accented by thin reddish lines. The flared pipe bowl is a perky yellow with faint lines in the back of the throat and a rim of umber, delicately whiskered. This was born to infiltrate the small shrubs in the maquis which gives protection from goats or is perfect on its own as a wiry tangled mound sprinkled with flowers in the rock garden.

One of the sweetest little groundcovers we have grown. Aside from the small terminal clusters of deep blue flowers in late spring and early summer, we are taken by its good evergreen foliage and year-round tidy appearance. It is in one of our troughs and spills over the lip perfectly. Good for the rock garden.

We acquired this incredibly tough, tuberous, summer dormant Geranium in the 80's from East Lambrook in southern England which was home to Margery Fish and the original English Cottage Garden. Provenance alone is merit enough but good lavender blue flowers and drought tolerance carries the day.