General List L-O
Lablab purpureus 3€/20seeds
Fast and easy climber to cover an ugly feature within ‘minutes’. Easy as an annual.
Lallemantia canescens 3€/20seeds
Small Lamiaceae member with pansy like leaves and purple flowers. Tough plant, great in gravel.
Lantana trifolia 4€/20seeds
Not your typical Lantana, this is an upright growing plant with very erect stems that I collected in Argentina, in fact I cut it back hard every winter for a fresh growth of stems that from late spring to autumn are topped with pink flowers that are followed by pink fruit that are clustered in elongated infrutescences and look like little jewels! They enjoy some water in the summer to perform well and as a subtropical plant they sprout easily from fresh seeds.
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Larrea tridentata 3.50€/10seeds SOLD OUT
It doesn't get any tougher than the creoscote bush! Widespread in desert areas of the wester US states, it easy a beautiful shrub with leathery small leaves, yellow flowers in spring and loves heat and drought as no other. Slow to establish in the beginnig but then it can grow faster.
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Lathyrus ochrus 4€/30seeds
Now I would not grow it in the flower garden, but a great local vegetable in Crete. You can eat the young shoots fresh as a salad or boil them and eat with olive oil and lemon. It is a winter growing annual.
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Lavandula stoechas 3€/20seeds
The Spanish Lavender in its wild form, which I find the most attractive compared to all those other low and stunted florist varieties. Needs acid soils so don’t try it if you garden on the alkaline side.
Lavatera arborea 3€/20seeds
Very characteristic of seaside locations in the Mediterranean, this upright annual or short-lived perennial can become a giant if well fed and nourished. Attractive in leaf and flower.
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Leontice leontopetalum 5€/20seeds
A Mediterranean Berberidaceae species. Slow growing, long lived but once mature it will reward you with its silver leaves, yellow flowers and big seedpods that are pink when fresh.
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Lepechinia fragrans 4€/10seeds
syn.Salvia fragrans
A drought tolerant shrub from California, with wonderfully aromatic foliage and pink foxglove flowers in spring. Best in a half shady position. Seeds germinate readily with no special treatment.
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Leptodactylon pungens 4€/20seeds
The granite prickly phlox is a small shrub from western USA requiring sharp drainage and summer drought to perform well. Is is also very sensitive when kept in a pot in the first year of its life as it can easily rot so pay attention to soil mixture and watering. But when a mature plant is covered with white/pink flowers it is a sight to behold.
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Limonium aff. binervosum 3€/20seeds SOLD OUT
Great for small scale groundcover or the gravel bed, this mat forming plant has attractive spathulate leaves that hug the ground from which rise 30cm tall flowering stems of purple flowers that turn into attractive silver seedheads. Tough and easy.
Linum arboreum 4€/20seeds
A small shrublet for dry conditions that turns yellow in spring from the abundance of flowers. I like the dry seed heads as well.
Linum leucanthum 4€/20seeds
Similar to the above but somewhat smaller and with pure white flowers.
Linum perenne 3€/20seeds
A long lived herbaceous perennial with a woody base. Many upright stems with tiny grey leaves and beautiful sky-blue flowers for a long time. Takes summer drought.
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Linum tenuifolium 4€/20seeds
A small species from the Balkans, with many wiry stems radiating from a central root at the end of which appear whitish pink flowers in the summer. Requires good drainage and due to its size it is best suited for the rock and crevice garden.
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Lobelia polyphylla 5€/20seeds SOLD OUT
A perennial with a woody base, when I first saw that in Mediterranean Chile I was taken away. A multitude of upright stems topped with dozens of burgyndy flowers. It has proved easy to grow but very slow growing. Goes through drought by dropping all its leaves.
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Lomandra insularis 7€/10seeds
In a genus of tufted perennials, this New Caledonian species differs in its shrubby upright form. Strap like leaves come in whorls in the terminal tufts together with branched inflorescences of fluffy white flowers. A very peculiar collecor's item and remember it won't ike frost.
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Lomelosia spp. - check under Scabiosa
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Lophospermum erubescens 'Bridal Bouquet' 3€/20seeds
An easy, perennial, fast growing climber with a woody base and many Digitalis like white flowers for long time in late spring and summer. It can take some frost but is not very drought tolerant, requiring occasional summer waterings.
Lunaria annua ´Alba Variegata´ 3€/20seeds
A different take on the classic honesty, this has white flowers and white edged leaves. Use it in the ´wild´ part of your garden as it will self-sow easily.
Lunaria annua ´Chedglow´ 3€/25seeds
Another honesty but with burgundy leaves and dark purple flowers. The burgundy effect will be more visible in colder climates instead of a Mediterranean one.
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Lupinus succulentus 3€/20seeds
A tall, winter growing annual species from western USA, with beautiful spikes of purple/blue flowers in spring. Best sown in situ. It will gently self sow in the garden.
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Lutzia cretica 4€/20seeds
A small xeric shrub native to Crete, very easy in a rock garden or in flat earth if the soil is well drained. Turns into gold when in flower in spring and then is decorated by round seedpods that stay attractive for a long time.
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Lycium andersonii 4€/20seeds
Native to western USA and Mexico, this wiry stemmed shrub in the Solanaceae, is easily adapted to summerdry conditions in the Mediterranean.
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Lycium exsertum 4€/20seeds
Similar to the above but with more thorny stems, this is commonly known as wolf berry in its native arid regions of western USA. Extremely drought tolerant.
Lysimachia dubia 3.5€/20seeds
Somewhat similar to the more common Lysimachia atropurpurea but with upright inflorescences of pinkish purple flowers. A really attractive short-lived perennial.
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Malcolmia orsiniana 3.5€/20seeds SOLD OUT
A Balkan native, this is a great small perennial for the rockery. Turns into a mat of purple in spring.
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Malosma laurina 4.5€/20seeds
The laurel sumac from California is a beautiful evergreen shrub with big leaves that will make a great green backdrop in your Mediterranean border. Extremely drought tolerant and in late spring it produces clusters of pink flowers at the top of its stem.
Marrubium incanum 3.50€/20seeds
Marrubiums are a cool group of Mediterranean herbs, usually with great foliage effect in the winter before the flower show in spring. This one has striking silver leaves that are highlighted by the whorls of white flowers.
Marrubium supinum 3.50€/20seeds
Greenish grey felty leaves and multiwhorled stems of light purple flowers.
Marrubium vulgare 3.50€/20seeds
This is a laxer plant compared to all of the above, but the grey leaves are quite spectacular.
Matthiola fruticulosa ssp. fruticulosa. 3.50€/20seeds SOLD OUT
How about a small shrubby stock with thin leaves and myriads of greenish or light purple flowers that can fill you garden with their scent at night for months on end? All of these on a xeric plant that requires no summer water!
Matthiola madeirensis 3.50€/20seeds
Like an old-fashioned single stock but with fewer leaf rosettes and bigger leaves. Peculiar and sweetly scented.
Maurandya barclayana 3.50€/20seeds SOLD OUT
A dainty climber that needs a wire mesh or a shrub to climb into, but when in flower in summer and autumn with its big purple flowers it is highly attractive.
Medicago arborea 4€/20seeds
Unlike other members of this genus containing mainly annual or perennial herbs, this forms big shrubs that flower in winter and spring with orange yellow flowers. It can go completely summer deciduous, to the point you could easily remove it thinking it is dead. If not, a real transformation with the first autumn rains will take place.
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Melampodium leucanthum 4€/20seeds SOLD OUT
A tough small perennial from the Mountain states, this produces a copious amount of white flowers when water is available. Give it a few deep waterings in the middle of the summer to keep the flowers coming, otherwise it can be very drought tolerant when established. No pretreatment needed for germination. So in spring.
Melianthus comosus 3€/20seeds
A much more refined version than M.major, this has greener leaves and bears the flowers between them. Individual flowers are orange and black and as is common in the genus drip black nectar.
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Melianthus major 3€/20seeds
Much bigger than the species above, with big cane like stems with feathery grey leaves and 1m long inflorescences of red flowers that drip black nectar (so plant in a spot where you or your paths won’t turn black). It can grow with or without summer water. Giveit space!
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Melinis nerviglumis 4€/20seeds
Even if you don't like ornamental grasses much, this will change your mind. From a blue fountain of fescue like foliage rise pink plumes in spring. Easy, tough, not very long lived but it will reseed itself. Commonly known as Ruby Grass.
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Maenodora scabra 3€/20seeds
An Arizona native, this upright subshrubby perennial will remind you more of a Linum than a member of the olive family to which it belongs. It loves heat and drought. Once it is done flowering give it a good shear back to produce new growth and flowers. An occasional deep watering will benefit and prolong the flowering period. No pretreament needed, sow in spring
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Mentzelia decapetala 3€/20seeds
Treat this and the following species as a biennial or a short lived monocarpic perennial. Sow in spring and keep in pots for the first summer, then put it the ground. When the rosette develops into a good size, it explodes into a branching stem topped by oversized starry white flowers that attract moths. Easy to germinate, once you sown them in autumn and let some cool moist conditions affect it.
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Mentzelia multiflora 4€/20seeds SOLD OUT
Similar to the above in life cycle and sowing needs, but the flowers are yellow! Sow in autumn as well.
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Metrosideros excelsa yellow form 5€/20seeds
The well loved Pohutukawa from New Zealand, loved by Mediterranean climate gardens worldwide, but in its yellow form! Starting as a shrub but can turn into a magnifiscent multibranched tree in time. Suitable to most soils and situations, loves heat, just avoid extended periods of frost because it will damage its leaves or terminal growth and flowerbuds. Easy to germinated in spring as long as the seeds are kept moist and surface sown as they need light.
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Michauxia campanuloides 3.50€/30seeds
A Campanula relative from Turkey and further east, this is a big biennial or monocarpic perennial but even bigger are its exquisite white flowers that fill the stems when it comes into flower. Takes drought but does also well with some summer water as long as the site is well drained.
Micromeria benthamiana 4€/20seeds
The more ‘micromerous’ a Micromeria is, the more I love it! This species from the Canary Islands has tiny grey leaves and even tinier light pink flowers in summer. All in a 20-30cm high multi stemmed tiny shrub. You may need a magnifying glass but undeniably it is the cutest thing in my dry garden.
Micromeria fruticosa 4€/20seeds
A perennial herb from the Middle East, this is one of the main ingredients of zaatar, the spice commonly used there. But it is also an attractive plant for the dry garden with clouds of white flowers all summer long.
Micromeria helianthemifolia 4€/20seeds
I feel very happy to have found this little shrub from the Canary Islands, for its compact shrubby habit, pleasantly fragrant foliage, drought tolerance, and above all for its abundance of pink flowers in late spring and early summer, making it look like a small pink cloud.
Micromeria juliana 3€/20seeds
You’re going to love tiny shrub with, as its name in greek suggests, tiny parts be it tiny leaves, tiny flowers. Very elegant for a gravel area. Takes summer drought.
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Mimosa dysocarpa 5€/20seeds
I very much like Mimosa flowers, those fluffy pin pom poms, but most of them are tropical things not really suited for the dry garden. Guess again! This Texas native is a big sub shrubby perennial that turns into 4th of July when it flowers with hundreds of pink flowers. It is drought tolerant once established. Soak in near boiling water before sowing in spring.
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Minuartia juniperina 4€/20seeds
A Balkan native, suitable for the rock garden, this forms a tight mound of needle like flowers that gets covered with short stems of white flowers in spring. Requires good drainage.
Mirabilis californica 4€/10seeds SOLD OUT
A winter dormant tuberous perennial, with trailing stems and purple pink flowers all summer long. Self-seeds easily in my gravel bed. Does best with some summer water.
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Mirabilis laevis var.crassifolia 4€/10seeds SOLD OUT
We're in a love and hate situation with Mirabilis jalapa, the four o clock plant, since I was a child. But I have realized that the genus included many more species, more refined and dainty and also suitable for the desert or dry garden. As this one, from California, that grows into a small cloud of pink flowers with multibranching stems radiating from a tuber underground. When it doesn't get enough water the plant will simply go to sleep underground. As with Mirabilis jalapa, equally easy from seed.
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Mirabilis longiflora 3€/10seeds
A very tall perennial with big leaves and very characteristic long tubed white flowers. Requires summer watering.
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Mirabilis multiflora 4€/10seeds SOLD OUT
A ground covering plant with trailing stems dressed in big shiny leaves and big purple flowers, this desert lover will quickly grow and flower when water is available and then dry up when it becomes scarse. So naturally, very drought tolerant. As will all Mirabilis, ridiculously easy from seed.
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Misopates orontium 3€/30seeds
A Mediterranean annual with upright stems and small pink snapdragon flowers in spring. Great for a meadow.
Molucella laevis 3.5€/20seeds
Known as Bells of Ireland, this is a very different but easy summer annual in colder climates, or winter annual in a Mediterranean climate.
Molucella spinosa 4€/20seeds
If M.laevis is Bells of Ireland, then this should be called Bells of the Mediterranean. A relatively rare plant in nature, but easy to grow as a winter annual.
Monarda bradburiana 4€/20seeds SOLD OUT
A perennial Monarda with white flowers with a hing of purple and very aromatic leaves. Give it weekly watering in the summer to perform.
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Monardella viminea 4€/20seeds SOLD OUT
Monarda has very few members in the genus that we Mediterranean gardeners can grow (too much water, too much powdery mildew.. if you've grown them, you should know). Monardella on the other hand is exactly the opposite! Most, if not all, are very drought tolerant plants that resent too much water and grow happily in sunny or semi shady spots in the Mediterranean garden. On top of that, they have very aromatic foliage! This species, the willowy Monardella, named after its willow like leaves, from San Diego country in California, has light purple flowers and is a magnet for butterflies and bees when it flowers. Easy from seed, start this in spring.
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Muhlenbeckia astonii 5€/20seeds
We successfully grow M.complexa in the Mediterranean, but there is more in that genus. This easy divaricating shrub grows fast and is adaptable to a variety of soils. Perfect from forming small hedges and topiary. The leaves are green but tiny, so it's the brown twigs that give it its interesting looks and colour. Germinates easily in spring without pretreatments.
Nemesia fruticans, wild form 3€/20seeds SOLD OUT
Much simpler and smaller than your typical hangingbasket Nemesias, but this one will live forever by reseeding itself regularly in your gravel garden and it blends perfectly in a more natural garden. Requires summer water and will flower pretty much all year long.
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Nemophila menziesii 3€/50seeds
Baby-blue eyes is a small but beautiful annual from western USA, forming a carpet of sky blue and white flowers in spring after sown in situ in autumn. It will self sow the following year after growing it.
Nepeta amethystina 4€/20seeds SOLD OUT
A drought tolerant small Nepeta, with attractive leaves with serrated margins creating small mounds that are topped with short spikes of light blue flowers in spring. Very drought tolerant.
Nepeta argolica 4€/20seeds
This Greek native herbaceous perennial species gets its name from Argos, but it can be found in a wide range mainly in the southern part of the country. In time, its stems will reach 1m high and are covered with greyish scented leaves and spikes of white flowers speckled with pink dots.
Nepeta curviflora 4€/20seeds.
Tough, xeric, early flowering, this amazing nepeta has upright stems (in full sun) up to 2 meters high. My substitute for Perovskia in my tough climate.
Nepeta mussinii 3.50€/20seeds
This goes around but various names but it is an excellent low nepeta, suitable for groundcovering and with a weekly watering will look excellent even during prolonged droughts.
Nepeta nepetella ssp. aragonensis 4€/20seeds
I’ve only grown this for a year but I’m in love already. Shiny silver leaves and pure white flowers all summer long, aromatic foliage, but most importantly it will produce all of this without summer water.
Nepeta nuda 4€/20seeds
From higher altitudes in the Balkans, another herbaceous perennial Nepeta that flowers prolifically in summer with white to dark purple flowers.
Nepeta trachonitica 4€/20seeds
Very distinctive species from Spain, having few upright stems and fat spikes with magenta flowers. Even the seeds are extra fat.
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Nepeta tuberosa 4€/20seeds SOLD OUT
An Iberian species and quite different looking from most Nepetas you've come across. Upright stems clothed in tight leaves and a terminal inflorescence with purple flowers.
Very striking. Will go into summer dormancy after it has finished flowering.
Nicotiana solanifolia 5€/20seeds
A big and bold perennial Nicotiana, obviously not very hardy as it grows in coastal situations in Chile but it should be ok in a Mediterranean climate. Big leaves and hanginginflorescences of green/yellow flowers.
Nicotiana sp. From Brazil 3.50€/100seeds
An annual or short-lived perennial that gets up to 1m high and flowers continuously summer and autumn with long tubed flowers loved by moths as they will stay open up until the first morning hours (or longer if it is a cloudy day)
Nigella damascena 3€/50seeds
The perfect addition for a Mediterranean meadow. A winter growing annual with blue flowers and the typical inflated seed pods.
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Nolina microcarpa 3€/10seeds
You can't beat beargrasses for the grass like effect in the dry garden, but of course they are not related to grasses at all. With tough evergreen leaves and upright stems on mature plants with hundeds of cream flowers, they are as easy to grow as your neighborhood Agave amaerican (to which they are related). It takes a few years from seed, but we don't really have a wide variety of them in the Mediterranean so worth the effort. Sow seeds in late spring, in a sandy, well drained medium and do not overwater them during the first year. They germinate quite erratically, for me at least.
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Nolina hibernica 'La Siberica' 4.50€/20seeds SOLD OUT
Much bigger and longer leaved compared to the one above, this beargrass will slowly develop in trunk. La Siberica is an area in Mexico from which it was collected by Cistus Nursery in case you were thinking Siberia... Sow as N.microcarpa above.
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Olneya tesota 4€/10seeds
Funnily, when I first encountered this desert tree I was in San Pedro de Atacama instead of its native land,the souther US and northen Mexico deserts. I was fascinated by its beautiful trunk, light shade and dangling silvery leaves. When I later saw it in full pink bloom in California I was just overwhelmed. The desert ironwood, can gradually become a big tree but it is attractive at all ages. Takes drought but grows faster when its roots have established and reached some underground moisture, hence their preferance to washes and dry rivers in nature. Very easy from seed, just soak in warm water overnight and plant the next day. Within a week you'll have seedlings that most likely will leave longer than any of us.
Oenothera caespitosa 4€/20seeds
The desert evening primrose forms tight rosettes and big white flowers when it wakes up from its summer dormancy.
Oenothera macrocarpa 3.50€/20seeds
I’m usually not a fan of Oenothera as many are way too weedy for my taste but this one is special. I will form tight clumps from its fat roots and provides low green/grey foliage and huge lemon-yellow flowers all summer long. Do not overwater.
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Onobrychis ebenoides 3.50€/20seeds
A small subshrub with grey leaves and orange/pinkish flowers in late spring. Good for the gravel garden.
Ononis natrix 3.50€/20seeds
A small spiny shrub with yellow flowers in summer, without needing summer water – few plants can claim that.
Onopordum illyricum 4€/10seeds
One of the giants in the thistle family, with huge cardoon like flowers on very upright stems. All parts of it are covered in spines.
Onosma frutescens 4€/10seeds
A small subshrub with pendant yellow and orange flowers. I can live more only with sharp drainage and no summer water.
Onosma graecum 4€/10seeds
An annual species, which should be started in the fall to flower in spring. Spiny like most Onosmas.
Origanum acutidens 5€/20seeds
From Turkey, an Origanum in the O.dictamnus group, with glabrous leaves and big white bracts surrounding the flowers. For a well-drained spot, no summer water needed.
Origanum libanoticum 5€/20seeds SOLD OUT
Another on in the O.dictamnus group, with very peculiar downward pointing inflorescences, with a good pink color on the bracts. Very drought tolerant as well.
Origanum microphyllum 4€/20seeds
My favorite scent of all Origanum foliage, this tiny leaved beauty forms airy little shrublets with dangling purple flowers in the summer. In its homeland Crete, it is used as an infusion.
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Origanum sipyleum 5€/20seeds
A beautiful origano from the east Aegean coasts and Turkey, this has upright stems covered in hundreds of dangling flowers in summer. The growth habit is similar to O.laevigatum. Can take exreme drought once established. Sown in spring or autumn without pretreatment.
Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum 3.50€/20seeds SOLD OUT
Supposedly the best oregano for cooking (and Greek salads!) and I may be biased as a Greek but I agree. Grow it on the dry side with no added irrigation for the strongest of scents. Best collected and dried in full flower.
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Oxytropis sericea 3.5€/20seeds
Related and similar looking to the herbaceous perennial Astragalus species, this perennial produces a profusion or white flowers in summer. It comes from high elevations of western US mountains, so your best chances are in a rock garden in the Mediterranean where its roots can enjoy cooler temperatures. Soak seeds in warm water overnight before sowingor mechanically scarify them.
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