I am glad this thread has moved to the realisation of how the plants concerned actually behave in conjunction with each other and the habitats (PLURAL) where they grow! Apart from "shrubs" mentioned by Paige, in the maquis, there are also coast line habitats and cliff habitats... and many excellent ground cover plants actually come from Mediterranean regions. Peter (UK) On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 4:40 AM, Pacific Rim <paige@hillkeep.ca> wrote: > or > under maquis -- that is, under coarse, doughty shrubs which both shaded > them > and sucked up water that might have harmed them in dormancy. The notion of > groundcover doesn't come into it. The ground when the bulbs have gone is > flat, adobe-like, even summer desert. > > >