White Asphodel.  From Spain to North Africa and over to the Balkans, this has done very well for us in our garden.  Narrow leaves in small clumps with flower stems 2'-3' tall and perhaps with greater maturity, to 4', and which bear showy starry white flowers.  We also enjoy the darker round seed capsules which extends the interest.  This will go summer dormant

Pinecone Thistle.  Pretty cool 6"-12" tall plant from dry pine woods and wastelands in southern Europe and northern Africa.  The spineless gray-green, thistle-like leaves, are felted gray-white underneath and are a perfect accompaniment to the art project flowers.  Tufts of filamentous purplish flowers erupt from hefty cones of overlapping, feathered brown scales.

Got lots of sun and sandy or well-drained soil with average to low fertility in a dryish garden beset by rabbits and deer but still want lots of flowers for the bees and other pollinators? Look no further as this will nicely fill the bill. Mature plant has hundreds of pink papery bracted flowers in midsummer on drooping stems. Best displayed in a raised bed.

This has grown into one of our favorite plants. Much like an Eremurus or Foxtail Lily in effect with basal strappy leaves and a 4'-6' tall branched flower spikes in May and June with lots of pale peach tinted white flowers opening from reddish-striped buds.  Longest-lived in sandy soils and late summer dormant.

Seriously good small Meadow Rue from Greece that brings it earlier than some more familiar species.  Makes a rounded mass of fine leaflets on many stems to 12"-18" tall with a full helping of clean white flowers.

Compact little plant that lends itself to formal edging as it is naturally a very tight, small rounded dome of small green leaves that gets its groove on with a shameless display of yellow button flowers.  We will never be confused with formal and in keeping, our plant is immensely happy in our free-form dry garden.  Just a quick shearing of the spent flowers and good to go.  Deer proof.

One of the sweetest little bulbs imaginable!  Summer dormant with dainty white flowers on 6"  stems appearing in Aug into Sept.  This grows in Portugal, Gibralter and Morocco and is just as happy growing with Madrona in the PNW as it is Olives back home.  Grassy foliage up in fall and winter.

We adore the Halimiums as they have proved to be amply hardy here at Far Reaches, the nearest thing to a Russian Steppe that western Washington offers.  Low growing evergreen shrub clad in grayish foliage and not shy at all yellow flowers with precise carmine pyramids at the base of each petal.  Good drainage.

One of the finest of the species Peonies, this Mediterranean goody is among the first to bloom in spring. Fabulous new growth and very showy single pink flowers. With good, well-drained soil, this will be more heat tolerant than the other species.

Officially Xeric Awesome Perennial. Seeds we got from Panayoti Kelaidis' home garden in Denver. This has rosettes of foliage which erupt in early summer to 2'-3' branched displays of orange to yellow poppy flowers. Nifty seed pods too. This really wants good drainage and hot sun and you will be smitten by the Horned Poppy.

Quirky little evergreen vine from the Mediterranean that brings delight far out of proportion to the size of its flowers. Small curved pipe-like flowers are a subtle burnished pale flesh on the outside accented by thin reddish lines.  The flared pipe bowl is a perky yellow with faint lines in the back of the throat and a rim of umber, delicately whiskered.

Truly a Sea Holly as this Eryngium is a dune plant throughout a good part of Europe.  Hard to beat texturama for the dry garden, Mediterranean style or really, an ol' garden as long as you aren't too nice to it.  Good drainage in lean soil and you can bask in the splendor of the gray, lightly spiny foliage and the small light purple flower buttons.

2nd generation from Turkey of this usually perennial Foxglove. The flowers, while not huge, more than compensate with a stellar performance - essentially the same credo I have lived to generally good effect. The small hairy-lipped pale yellow flowers densely pack the stems, blurring the line between plant and art.

Dwarf form of Sweet Myrtle that should be a great addition to the evergreen shrub palette here in PT. Hardiness is increased with less water in summer and likes a nice sunny spot - we can do this!   Aromatic foliage when crushed with small fragrant white flowers late summer.  This has got to be deer resistant although the cute vermin are cultivating a palette for deer-proof food.

Silver Feather Grass is one of the most graceful and curious of all perennial grasses. From a low clump, spectacular flower spikes rise to 30" unfurling curled streamers that jive in the breeze. These corkscrew feathers fly off carrying a single long, weighted seed which uses the wind to self-drill itself into the ground.  Drought tolerant and kinetic.

One of the classic alpines for rock gardens and one that should be on the "Easy Alpines for Beginners" list if it isn't already.  Low tight mats of small evergreen leaves topped by fuzzy spherical  violet-blue flowers in early summer, this looks good all the time.  This particular one is from a Hinkley collection in Turkey.

Choice little alpine from the heights of Syria, Lebanon and Turkey which is remarkably hardy.  Sue brought this out west with her from her garden in northern Vermont in case you think we're making stuff up.  Which we do but we're not this time.  Perfect low mats of small rounded gray leaves and white spring flowers.

Andalusian Dutchman's Pipe.  Native to Portugal, Spain and hopping across Gibraltar to North Africa, this curious vine with its heart-shaped leaves always gives pause with its small mahogany-purple flowers shaped like trippy little saxophones.  We find it nigh unto impossible to walk by without stopping to admire the pixie quirkiness.  Comparatively large seed pods follow the flowers.

A serious bit of yellow on this rock garden gem.  The dome of small silver leaves is completely obscured by the mass of yellow flowers in May and June here.  We let ours go to seed so we can enjoy more seedlings.  This is visually nearly identical to three other distantly related species in the Mediterranean and may reflect parallel evolution from similar habitats.

A subtly appealing Frit for the bulb enthusiast and one which does well in the garden (as opposed to fussing in containers or growing in bulb frames) This has up to 3 bell shaped flowers of a blend of olive-green and purplish-brown. Sun to half sun and decent drainage and increases quite well.  Flowering size.

Cretan Arum.  Aside from Crete, this is found in Turkey as well.  A beautiful species that checks the boxes for drought/heat tolerance as this is a summer dormant bulb.  The green leaves appear in fall and have been undamaged here in winter drops to 10F so guessing can go lower.  Scented soft yellow spathes.

A very good selection of Winter Iris - the species can start flowering in February here for us and at that time of the year, even the worst selection looks mighty fine but this one is truly worthy.  Blue standards - the central upright petals - and blue falls - the large lower petals - that carry a broad white blotch with fine blue lines.

This excellent hardy orchid is one we received many years ago from our late Plant Guru, Jerry John Flintoff as Dactylorhiza incarnata subsp. africana.  Well, that has been merged into D. elata and it looks right to us but we are not orchid botanists.  Vigorous, with green leaves and richly colored flowers.