Our main area, still less than 3,000 square metres, is below the house, where we are trying to keep a sort of "managed wilderness". We have put a wall round it and threaded paths through it, but otherwise largely left the native phrygana, mainly lentisks, terebinths, wild olives (we have grafted edible olives on to just a few), Phillyrea latifolia, Salvia frutescens, Ptilostemon chamaepeuce, cistuses, and the typical sub-shrubs, bulbs and annuals of the area. We do clip the shrubs much as grazing animals might do. The top picture gives the general idea.
Each autumn amongst the natives we plant out a hundred or so plants, mainly shrubs and trees, which we have raised from seed or cuttings in the UK. They have a monthly deep watering in their first summer and are then left to survive – or not. We also plant Mediterranean and South African bulbs that we have raised from seed. Usually at this time of year there is a fair amount in flower, but this dry autumn we found only a few crocuses, including the purple and the white forms of Crocus cartwrightianus (2nd and 3rd pictures), quite a few Allium callimischon poking through the sub-shrubs (4th picture), and rosemaries starting to flower. The top one is Boule, beginning to sprawl down a wall; next is Punta di Cannelle, which we hope will also eventually do the wall-covering trick – at the moment it's heading determinedly away from the wall below it. The last two pictures are both Prostrata Group, covered in flowers at the moment and adored by the bees. The second of these Prostratas, with a stronger-than-usual rosemary smell, rather bolder leaves, and slightly darker flowers, is grown from a cutting taken from a plant given to us by Sally Razelou, which in turn was raised from a cutting from a venerable plant originally planted at the MGS garden in Attica by Jaqueline Tyrwhitt herself.
Incidentally so far we have found rosemaries the best survivors.