"I thought the stone pine, the cedars, Vitis vinifera, the fig-trees and some of the cypresses you mentioned were native to this Mediterranean area and not introduced by men here" The Mediterranean is a large area; most of the species Tunilla names are only native to small parts of it, not the whole area. Stone Pine Pinus pinea: definitely native in Portugal, and southern & central Spain only. Other populations likely naturalised from ancient human cultivation. Lebanon Cedar Cedrus libani: naitve in the Atlas Mountains (subsp. atlantica) and Turkey to Lebanon (subsp. libani). Mediterranean Cypress Cupressus sempervirens: native to Crete, southern Turkey, and Cyrenaica (Libya) only. All populations north of the Med and west of Crete are cultivated origin. Vitis vinifera is the exception in being native across almost the entire Med. Resin

Re: white cedar: Truly wonderous places are the naturally occurring groves of these! Seeing this all my life makes me just plain resent all the dumb cultivars of this plant. Okay, I DO like some of the cultivars, and they have great usage in landscaping, but these are trees! When young, they are most typically perfectly straight, single-stemmed, and have tiered branch arrangement not unlike a spruce or fir. As they age, due to branch differentiation and growth, considerable filling in takes place so that they become very dense. More or less pure stands are very common. In favorable conditions, this is not a slow grower in youth. At least a foot is common. They do have some shade tolerance, and when overtopped , they can slowly bide their time till some calamity befalls the overarching foliage. For this reason, they are considered climax species in some forest associations. Having said all this, it is rare to find really tall ones. I think the state record, as far as that which is still standing, is something like 85 ft. If you've seen young, unsheared plicata or GG, these are far more similar than different. Aroma of crushed foliage is heavenly. The white pine on my land range from young saplings all the way up to perhaps 80-90 footers. There are, for some reason, many WP's here that have two leaders, starting maybe 30 ft. up. My guess is either very careless logging or a storm in the past that snapped a lot of them off. Luckily, not all exhibit this deformity. Would someone please patiently explain to me how to post photos? We've got a digital camera (Again....long story) and now, with this land, I'd really like to be able to share some pics. I truly appreciate your interest in these groves of white cedar. It was prerequisite with me in my land search that I end up with some of this feature, or that I have it nearby to allow natural spread onto my land. It's been said that the air is always cooler and moister within these groves, and already this year, we've verified it for ourselves. This is said to be due to their high rate of evapotranspiration. An interesting aside: The DNR Forester stated that most of the WC groves we see in this part of WI got their start during the dustbowl years of the 1930s! It seems the seeds require soil temps of around 85 degrees F. and that the conditions during those years were right for providing this. It seems especially odd to have this be the case for such a tree that seems to signal cool, moist condititons. Nature is truly full of such paradoxes. +oM

Hi all. Thanks for the nice comments. Dave, yes we are surrounded by a huge natural rockery on wich we could hardly improve.Our actual garden is only about half an acre plus another acre or so where our greenhouses are.We hope to buy some more land... I hauled all the rock myself from higher up in the mountains.About a ton per trip. Nice J.Hillier you've got there - thanks for the tip & photo. The lawnmower starting device flew to bits last summer so I decided to keep it running 'as is' until it gives up the ghost. B&S spare parts are hard to come by and replacement engines cost about as much as a complete new mower!!! Hi Sluice. The crop with the pink flowers is sage .I don't know the exact name, but it's bi-annual and is used in the perfume industry. I'll try and get a close-up shot together tomorrow. Kman The large Yucca is probably Y. rostrata ,but it is unusually large for that species.It also produces numerous suckers ,wich is also uncommon.It could also be Y. elata or perhaps a hybrid. It came up as a stray seedling in a Yucca schottii sowing about twenty years ago. The cholla is probably Cylindropuntia spinosior or imbricata.Many forms exist wich makes identification difficult.We got this one back in Britain some thirty years ago and it has always been outdoors!!! In front of it is Opuntia scheeri wich is also bone-hardy.The agave is A. parryi v. cousei. The (still) small tree with the silvery leaves is Elaeagnus angustifolia v. caspica (syn. 'Quicksilver' or Russian Olive).I'm trying to shape it into a small tree, but in reality it is more like a shrub.The mound-shaped plant is Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' or B.M Wallflower. I just clipped away the hundreds of spent flowering stalks to encourage it to perform again.I will also take cuttings soon as it lasts only two to three years. Hi Dax. The arbor is made from chestnut timber wich has good natural rot-resistant qualities.I am training a weeping Himalayan cedar over it to provide some shade for that bench and the rockery.This may not have been a good choice as it seems to be extremely vigorous. More pictures coming soon! T.

Billie, here's how to add location and zone to your profile so it posts automatically with your name: Go to Your Houzz in the upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone. If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures. Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.