Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/130547
1 4 9 6 mediterranean 5 3 AT THE HEIGHT OF SUMMER, B.C. offers glimpses of those rare, luminous, blue-and-hazy-white Mediterranean-like skies. With a pared down, quasi-monochromatic palette of plants and materials, this look can be translated to the garden. Start with a simple cruciform layout centred on a water feature animated by a gurgler. Flush with the ground, this shallow pond is either cast in concrete or defined with a ready-to-use plastic insert. Paths are delineated with bricklike pavers, light-coloured, tumbled and mortared in place. The interior space is filled with light pea gravel. The farthest path meets a wooden bench while the two lateral paths each end with an elegant urn. For a cool patina look, the Pangaea Egg Vase from Vancouver-based 18Karat can't be beat. As the main plant anchor, a most reliable serviceberry tree marks each of the four corners – single-trunked specimens are recommended. The famed pencil-shaped Italian cypress is replaced by a hardier substitute, the powdery blue Arizona cypress. The rare seven-son flower shrub and white trumpet lilies add powerful fragrances. An overall emphasis on charismatic evergreen foliage ensures yearround interest. While most plants are grouped in sizeable clumps, some self-seeding annuals – poppies and verbenas – add a hint of laissez-faire so typical of the Med attitude. 7 8 10 2 plant list 1 Serviceberry tree (Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance') 2 Seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides) 3 Blue Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica) 4 Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus 'Spring Bouquet') 5 Rock rose (Middle right) Bear's breeches (Acanthus spinosus) (Cistus 'Silver Pink') PHOTO: GAP/Andrea Jones 6 Bear's breeches (Bottom right) Seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconiodes) PHOTO: GAP/Carole Drake (Acanthus spinosus) 7 Hybrid hellebore (Helleborus x sternii) 8 Purple-leaved sage (Salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens') 9 Maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light') 10 Royal trumpet lily (Lilium regale) 46 | BC HOME & GARDEN June 2013 p42-47_Climate Change.indd 46 13-05-01 4:11 PM