By Whoopsadaisy
Hampshire,
United Kingdom 
I have just returned from cyprus & fell in love with all the beautiful shrubs & flowers over there. I was thinking of maybe adding some of them in my garden next year to give it that mediterranean look to it. I am thinking about the water situation that we have here (hose pipe bans) & also the cost of water these days as they grow in a hot country & we didnt once see them being watered. Has anybody tried this out? What plants would work best? I have a few places in the ground to put some shrubs but most of them would have to be grown in containers. Any ideas gratefully recieved.
9 Jul, 2012
Answers
I never thought about the plants not liking alot of wet.
I can feel a rethink coming on. Many thanks
9 Jul, 2012
As Bulbaholic has said, it is our wet weather, especially in winter is what kills plants, not the cold in itself. A lot of Mediterranean plants are quite hardy but not cold and wet hardy - they do OK if it is dry and cold. That is a reason why hardiness maps, based on how cold an area gets, are useless in the UK as part of the UK are as hardy as Florida cold wise!
9 Jul, 2012
Cyprus probably has a permanent hose pipe ban because the whole island is short of water. North Cyprus is laying a pipeline to Turkey whilst South Cyprus is opting for desalination to solve the problems mostly caused by the huge and successful tourist industry. The problem with growing Mediteranean plants in British gardens is that the plants don't like too much wet!!!!!!
9 Jul, 2012