February Foliage Follow-up

Foliage Follow-up Day, sponsored by Pam at the wonderful blog, Digging, is a time to celebrate the plant foliage that may be overlooked as a result of the general tendency to focus on flowers.  There are several plants in my garden with foliage deserving of recognition right now.

My Bloom Day post included the fluffy pink flowers of Calliandra haematocephala.  This is the first year this plant has bloomed for me here but I've enjoyed the shrub's foliage for the past 2 years.  It has an almost fern-like quality.  The new growth appears with a reddish hue, turning a medium green as it matures.  I regularly use it as a filler in flower arrangements.  The picture below doesn't entirely do it justice.

Calliandra haematocephala

Most of my succulents look good year-round but I am particularly taken by 2 Aeonium that rooted without difficulty from cuttings I simply pushed into the soil this past Fall.

Aeonium arboreum?

Aeonium 'Kiwi'

This Euphorbia tirucalli moved here with me from my old house.  It's getting more sun in its new location in my vegetable garden, which has intensified its color.  For now, it's happy in its terracota strawberry pot but I'm sure it would gain stature if I put into into the ground.

Euphorbia tirucalli

I featured Hibiscus acetosella 'Haight Ashbury' in last month's Foliage Follow-up.  It flowered and looked great for about 6 weeks, then collapsed.  I cut it back in the hope that it will eventually return to its former glory.  Hibiscus acetosella 'Mahogany Splendor', shown below, has proven to be a better performer in the long run.  The plant produces small, burgundy-colored flowers but it's main attraction is its foliage.

Hibiscus acetosella 'Mahogany Splendor'

Some Pelargoniums are also flaunting their foliage.  I picked up the 2 plants pictured below at the Fall Plant Sale at the South Coast Botanic Garden in October.  They're still relatively small but their foliage color is eye-catching in a bed in partial shade.

Pelargonium 'Vancouver Centennial'

Pelargonium 'Mrs. Pollack'

In the vegetable garden, Salvia officinalis 'tricolor' is adding foliage interest.  Although it's principally grown as a culinary herb, this plant also produces attractive blue flowers; however, we'll have to wait until Summer for those.

Salvia officinalis 'Tricolor'

The Xylosma congestum hedge lining my backyard border has taken on a beautiful orange glow.

Xylosma congestum

As my parting shot, I'll highlight the interplay between a dark-leaved Pelargonium in my front border and the Santa Barbara Daisy foliage growing up through it.  I picked up the Pelargonium at the South Coast Garden Show in May 2011.  My records are imprecise but I think its Pelargonium x hortorum 'Tweedle Dee'.  If you recognize it as something else, let me know.

Pelargonium x hortorum 'Tweedle Dee' (?) & Erigeron karvinskianus

Connect to the Digging blog for links to other foliage photos.  Thanks for hosting, Pam.