A look at the Foliage

Two things I noticed while I looked out of my window today.

One- Winter has settled in like a bad house guest, and Two- I miss the foliage in the garden.

 I love foliage, which brings us to this post about

Foliage, or leafs, whatever you prefer.

Whether it's solid, variegated, striped, molted, or speckled, big, ruffled, fuzzy, spiky, or dramatic,  foliage is fantastic.

A green garden is just a garden where the focus is on the color green, mostly from foliage.

Think forest, moss, or even a lawn.

I love working with foliage plants, many of my containers rely on it heavily. In certain situations I prefer it to flowers. A planting of foliage plants to me is in some ways like a "smart planting"

Smart in the sense that you had to make a conscious and artistic decision on how to use the foliage in a planting

Spring foliage

I love the sight and fresh color of new foliage in the spring, everything is fresh and new. Newly emerging foliage has not had to fight summers scorching heat, or the crimes of water neglect, or hungry insects.

 Above, new growth on the yews contrast with the old dark foliage. The yews look like they have tiny green lights on them. Ostrich ferns are fresh green in the company of the yews and the foliage of the grass. This is a composition of foliage

There are many plants that are just used for their foliage, it can be used to add just as much color as flowers would. Coleus comes in a huge assortment of colors, growth patterns, shapes and sizes. The flowers are not much to look at and I usually clip them off.

When you decide to do a foliage planting the whole new world of texture comes into play. Texture and foliage go hand in hand.

Tropical foliage form these bananas is bold and stunning, who cares that these plants will never produce fruit. The leaves are large and take up a lot of air space too. Alacasia's will also give that Tropical look with their large leaves, and will even grow in the shade.

Ruffled and curly leaves such as these on lettuce and ornamental cabbages add color and texture to this spring planting. Yep, you eat can it too, think salads.

Wall baskets filled with foliage

The foliage of these lime colored Coleus add a striking color to this annual border. The silver color of Dusty Millers foliage can either cool down a planting or bring more heat, It depends on how you use it.

Trailing, twisting, foliage mingles well at a garden party.

This is a trend that I'll be exploring more with this year mixing a lot of foliage plants together in no particular pattern and letting them weave in and out with each other.

This late fall planting makes the most of foliage combinations. Ornamental cabbages, lettuce, and preserved Eucalyptus branches.

When planting your garden this year don't forget the importance of foliage

There are lots of foliage plants I didn't even mention here.

Of course this is just a small sampling of foliage, just a tip of the iceberg.

We'll look at foliage again in a future post.

For 2013

White Cosmos

Even though there is still plenty of winter left, I find myself thinking about the up-coming garden season.

Mostly I'm thinking about some plants, and plant combinations I would like to try this year.

There's really nothing new on my list, most are all plants that I have grown in the past, but for one reason or another I have not enjoyed them for quite some time. Some will be new, and some deserve a re-visit to my garden.

The above picture is of white cosmos. I love the simplicity of thees flowers, they remind me of flowers you would see growing wild in a meadow. Cosmos are light, airy and delicate they look great planted in mass or combined with other annuals such as the white Cleome in the below photo. This to me would be a great pair in a white border or dispersed among perennials maybe under planted with white petunias. They also come in pink and purple shades.

White Cleome

Cleome has always been a favorite of mine, I love the complexity of the flowers. Last year I grew a newer dwarf pink/purple variety called "Senorita" and they were amazing. I plan on using a lot more of them this year along with the white ones.

Daturas

Datura's or Moon Flowers are very toxic and poisiones, but how can I resist the beauties. They come in shades of purples , lavenders and yellows, some are heavily ruffled, doubled and two toned. The white ones are my favorite. Trumpet like flowers that only last a day so dead-heading is a must. The flowers open at night and on overcast days. I want to try theses in a white themed container planting as well as in border plantings

Blue Salvia

Blue Sylvia's have been around for some time now. Ive always admired them in more commercial like plantings usually with something red and white "YIKES" I have grown them before with much success and think this is the year to really work with them. The blue color is almost electric, I'd like to combine these with yellow and orange, such as Marigolds and Celosia.  They would work well with other blues, whites, as well as purples and magenta, and maybe even chartreuse.

Eremurus

Eremurus are bulbs that need to be planted in the fall. I have only come across these beauties a couple of times, usually in a bulb catalogue. These would actually be new for 2014. The white bottle-brush like flower stems rise above the grass like foliage and bloom from the bottom to the top. I've never grown them before, so these will truly be new for me. 

Alliums

Alliums are members of the onion family, these are the more ornamental cousins. I have grown these before, usually the purple varieties with much success. They remind me of Dr. Seuss trees. This year I want to plant the white  variety. Thy are also a bulb that needs to be planted in the fall, so these will be for 2014 too. I probably wont have a mass planting of these like the above photo, but a nice size grouping would be very nice.

Shasta Daises

 I have always loved the Daisy, but have not really grown them. I have always admired them growing in someone else's garden, but never my own. This is my year to try them.

These are just a few of my plans for the 2013 garden, I'm sure there will be other new plants I'll want to try out too.

Now I'm getting excited.

Looking forward

  Another gardening year has come to an official close. The Christmas decorations are being packed  away, the days are cold and short, the Holiday rush is over and there is snow on the ground. Not much gardening to be done now. It's that time of year when all you can do is dream and plan for the next garden season ahead.

Many gardeners like to spend this time looking through garden books, seed catalogues, and magazines, I am not one of these. I prefer to make my plans by thinking of the past gardens. I keep mental notes of what worked, what did not, and how to improve. I remember how a plant grows, what should be replaced, how  something grew, as well as the best colors for a spot. I pay attention to water and light requirements. In other words I start planning while I'm gardening.

Sure the are new plants I want to try, or should I say new combinations of plants to try. I can not wrap my thoughts around these plants until I see them. I'm more of a hands on gardener.

So for now all I can do is look forward. Soon the tulips that I planted this past fall will start to emerge, this I look forward to.

I'm just looking forward to gardening, this is my plan, who knows what will be.