Trisha's Meanderings - Lessons from Mediterranean Gardens
It took decades before I could finally unleash my wanderlust — and I wholeheartedly agree with the quote that “travel is not a reward for working, it’s education for living.”
Somehow, seeing things anew and at a distance carries an extraordinary resonance. For me, it is the university of life. It's about seeking beauty, but also seeking answers to questions. So much to take in, to learn from, and to be inspired by.
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Writing this from Greece, in the Mediterranean, where less than half the year brings any rain at all, I've been watching how gardeners here have adapted entirely. For those of us in the land of Oz, going without rain for months on end is crippling and deflating — especially when we want our gardens to be forever floriferous and fabulous.
…and green.
But walking and talking with keen gardeners on our meanderings, we all agree there are other colours in the summer garden palette besides green. The greys really come into their own — and what always seems to work best is the old adage: repeat, repeat, repeat. If it works, use it en masse for great effect.
Lavenders, sages, rosemaries, agaves, cardoons, teucriums, olives, cistus, convolvulus and thymes, for starters. Grey and silver-leafed Mediterranean plants have adapted to intense sun and drought by developing fine, reflective hairs or waxy coatings that conserve water and deflect heat. They thrive in full sun and well-draining soil, making them perfect for rockeries, gravel gardens or drought-tolerant borders.
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And grasses. Gravel. Paving. The cool shade beneath a snow pear, a Chinese elm, or your favourite tree.
My yearly visits to the Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor house at Kardamyli on the Peloponnese have made me completely fall under the spell of one knockout plant: Salvia clevelandii 'Allen Chickering'. It is the only colour in that garden — but used en masse, it is truly extraordinary. Flowering nonstop for at least three intensely hot, dry months. Russian sage, Perovskia atriplicifolia, is another long-flowering perennial that comes later in the season, extending the effect beautifully.
I'm so pleased that our palettes and preferences change over the years. Where I once had a firm dislike of brightly coloured geraniums, bougainvillea and succulents in urns, they are now firm winners in my eyes.
There's still time to learn to love variegated anything…!
Trisha xx
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