Mediterranean Garden
Purpose
A great many of the plants in this garden have been grown from seed or from cuttings. As many of these plants are not hardy in our wet, cold Pacific Northwest winters, many must be lifted in autumn and overt wintered in the poly-houses. It is from these plants and established cultivars that cuttings are taken to ensure backup.Maintenance
Mulch is put down in both Spring and Autumn. The soil in Mediterranean climates is mostly of poor quality. This fits nicely with the location of this particular garden and we add stones, rock and shards of pottery to give overall effect. Once established many of the plants are drought tolerant, however new plantings require water and fertilizing during drier months. Every year some plants succumb to our cold, wet winter and this is one of our major challenges (we are in zone 8).History
There are three beds comprising the Mediterranean Garden in an area that was once filled with roses and oriental poppy. The garden began as a student project using available plant material. Since the summer of 2006, we have endeavored to introduce a variety of cultivars that are in fact, Mediterranean. This garden has no budget for maintenance and upkeep. Delphia Scratchley orders in seed from various seed houses abroad and grows them on until they are ready to be put in the ground. The same goes for cuttings and all of this is done from our home. We do receive donations from time to time and contribute to the garden ourselves. The crew of volunteers for this garden are Delphia (propagation) and myself.Contact person is John Scratchley, Curator (email: wralff@shaw.ca or jhscratch@gmail.com)
photos courtesy: John Scratchley (see Jay's photos on Flickr)
