Visit to France 2

On a recent visit to Pepiniere Filippi nursery in Meze I brought some really interesting plants to trial and will be watching them closely. Firstly, an unusual grass called Zoysia tenuifolia . This creates hummocks of dense grass about 5-10cm high. It yellows in the winter at temperatures below -4C . It needs full sun and good drainage so I will see how it survives on my sandy soil. It has a really soft undulating habit and would be good to use in small areas around a bench perhaps as an alternative to chamomile.

Inspired by a combination that they are growing in the gravel garden, I also brought a mixture of Achillea crithmifolia and Centaurea bella. (both pictured in the photograph) Both create dense mounds of evergreen silver foliage. So far, the Centaurea is creating nice rounded mounds whereas the Achillea is already spreading quite quickly and looks like something that would cover bare soil rapidly. My resident rabbit hasn't eaten them yet either!

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