Its huge, velvety-purple leaves make Solanum quitoense one of the most spectacular plants raised at Mesogeo. Unfortunately, such showiness comes at the cost of hardiness; S. quitoense needs to winter indoors because it survives only to 28 degrees.

Drive up to Terri Stanley and Terry Moyemont's place, and it looks like any other quaint island farmhouse — until you notice dozens of fat, furry solanum, appearing as if decked out for Halloween with their wicked thorns and luridly purple leaves. Towering lobelias, downy salvias, yuccas, eucalyptus, gingers and ferny acacias create geographic dislocation in borders thick with exotic foliage plants. This is Mesogeo Greenhouse, the brainchild of a couple dedicated to the idea of exploring which Mediterranean plants best suit Northwest gardens.

A couple of years ago, Stanley and Moyemont were repairing a 400-year-old stone house they describe as "located in the navel of Crete, with a fireplace you can walk right into." On a quest to figure out how to garden in Greece, they circumnavigated the Mediterranean in four months, visiting more than 50 gardens. Stanley fell for the plants, while Moyemont shot more than 4,000 moody photos. The duo never dreamed they'd end up creating a nursery, but they were struck by the similarities between gardens halfway across the globe and those they knew back home. Not only were winters wet and summers dry, but "people from the Northwest would recognize what gardeners in France and Italy are doing combining tropicals with hardy plants," says Stanley.
 

Now In Bloom While all hydrangeas have old-fashioned charm, Hydrangea 'Buttons and Bows' has especially sweet flowers with deep-pink petals each fetchingly trimmed in snowy white. The plant is compact and rounded, with large flowerheads that open pale green before maturing. Perfect for container culture or the front of the border, 'Buttons and Bows' tops out at 4 feet high and can take some filtered sun if given plenty of water.

The couple came home to Bainbridge Island, built a greenhouse and bought 1,000 aloe vera plants to launch their business with something healing. In just two years they've started growing 300 varieties of plants rarely seen here, of which they estimate 75 percent are hardy. Last winter winnowed out the more delicate specimens, and now the litmus test is if a plant made it through 18-degree weather.

What exactly is a Mediterranean plant? Look around Mesogeo (which means "Middle Earth" in Greek) and you'll be convinced it's something wildly unusual and achingly desirable, most often with outsized foliage, thorns, gaudy coloring or all three. Since that area of the world has been cultivated for nearly 4,000 years, it's hard to know which plants are native and which introduced. Stanley considers Mediterranean plants to be any that grow native or are successfully cultivated in the region. Besides plants from the Mediterranean basin, she's had luck with those from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania.

She grows most of her plants from seed, spending the winter treasure hunting on the Internet for seeds of plants she remembers or has read about and wants to try.

It's hard to choose just a few plants out of the great number of beauties at Mesogeo, but here are a few that Stanley finds both exciting and appropriate for our climate. She recommends providing decent soil and drainage, regular fertilizer and plenty of sun, but says only the yucca and agaves need truly sharp drainage.

• South African cabbage tree (Cussonia paniculata) seems to double in size every day, growing to 8 feet tall with hefty leaves in powder blue.

• Geranium palmatum adds a touch of exotica with rosy flowers and handsome, shiny leaves twice the size of a human hand.

• Kniphofia caulescens is tough, growing 3 to 5 feet high, with thick, blue-toned foliage and shaggy salmon flower spikes. The dwarf, evergreen K. hirsuta 'Traffic Lights,' will stop you in your tracks, with coral red and green flowers.

• Lobelia tupa blooms for months, reaching 6 feet high and topped with blood-red flowers.

• Acacia dealbata looks as if it'd never grow north of the Mason-Dixon line, with silver-etched ferny leaves and golden-yellow flowers; A. baileyana 'Purpurea' is a mimosa with ethereal purple foliage.

Stanley hopes to issue a catalog before too long. In the meantime, Mesogeo Greenhouse can be reached at 206-855-9017.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle free-lance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net.

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