Mediterranean Gardens
If you’ve been dreaming of a trip to Tuscany, you might enjoy a Mediterranean-style garden. And you can create that old-world charm in your landscape with Florida-Friendly plants.
Mediterranean gardens use a silvery-green palette and often include heat-tolerant plants rosemary, juniper and yucca.
Lavender is also common, but it won’t grow well in Florida. North Florida gardeners can try Russian sage for a similar look, but anise hyssop fills the niche even better. Bees and other pollinators love this long-flowering, heat-loving and drought-tolerant perennial. Its spikes of fragrant flowers range in color, from lavender to white, blue and even red.
Tough, evergreen shrubs provide structure. Some, like cocoplum, Florida privet and podocarpus (especially the dwarf varieties) can be pruned into hedges and screens. And of course, the Italian cypress might be the first plant that comes to mind when “Mediterranean” landscapes are mentioned.
If you enjoy edible plants, try planting fig, citrus, persimmon or oregano, but rosemary is a must.
Terracotta is an iconic material in Mediterranean design. Use it for planters and decorative elements. Many Mediterranean gardens are centered around beautiful courtyards, often with elaborate fountains. If these major design elements are out of your budget, try grouping plants in terracotta pots around your patio and using a smaller fountain. This can give you the look of a fancier courtyard for a fraction of the price.
Also on Gardening Solutions
- Figs
- Fountains
- Junipers
- Modern Landscape Design
- Olives
- Oregano
- Oriental Persimmon
- Rosemary
- Super Drought-tolerant Plants
- Ten Planning Tips for Design