With spring generating flowers in my garden non-stop at the moment, it's easy to overlook the garden's foliage. I took a closer look at my garden yesterday and wanted to share the fresh green foliage my deciduous trees and shrubs have produced (with a few other foliage highlights thrown in).
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Dwarf Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa'
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The oldest of my 2 Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' (aka coral bark maple)
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This is the small 'Sango Kaku' I added to the front garden last year. Although fairly well-protected from the harsh summer sun by the hedge behind it, its leaves and stem tips were scorched last summer.
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I actually like the rust-tinged foliage of Calliandra haematocephala (aka powder-puff shrub) better than its flowers
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Although cut back to the ground when summer's heat toasts their foliage, the 4 artichokes (Cynara) on the back slope return reliably every spring. There's no sign of chokes yet, though.
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| I planted this Dais cotinifolia (aka pom-pom tree) from a 4-inch pot in 2019. I've been pruning it annually to keep it small but it still hasn't bloomed for me. |
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| Persimmon 'Fuyu' (Diospyrus) is one of the few plants in my garden that provides good fall/winter foliage color. It's spring green color isn't bad either. |
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Persimmon 'Hachiya' is leafing out again too
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I couldn't help worrying about the Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' we put in last May to replace the dying mimosa tree we removed. We didn't get much in the way of fall color from it last year as summer's heat burned the foliage but I've been giving it extra water and hope that'll help it get well-established.
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Even in my climate coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides) generally dies back in winter. The 2 plants in this half-barrel, in an area of mostly shade protected by a hedge on the left and other plants on the right, kept on growing. And I pruned it twice!
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We didn't even know this peach tree (Prunus persica) near the property line on the back slope was there until we removed the out-of-control Yucca elephantipes that formerly occupied the boundary line. It's never produced mature fruit but it offers partial screening of the neighbor's property.
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Protea nerifolia 'Pink Ice' has never bloomed. After 2 years in a pot, I planted it in my dry north-side garden in late 2018. It's producing new foliage each year, which I'm hoping is a positive sign.
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The ornamental pear (Pyrus calleryana) in the front garden suddenly dropped its flowers and sprouted new leaves during one of our first winter heatwaves
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The Xylosma congestum hedge lining the backyard border was overblown with new growth until the gardener trimmed it into submission shortly after this photo was taken. It won't be long before it produces another flush of new growth.
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Just as I was considering digging out the stump of the Yucca 'Bright Star' I cut to the ground last year after it was butchered by a well-meaning gardener, I noticed what appears to be new growth developing inches away. As the mature plants I've priced go for $110, this is a good sign!
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It's been feeling more like early summer than spring here this week and of course it remains very dry. The TV weather forecasters have been teasing us with a prospect of rain this weekend but both weather services I regularly check show nothing higher than a 13% chance of rain Saturday night. Good for those running in the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday perhaps but not great news for gardeners.
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material © 2012-2022
by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I love inspecting new foliage! It is possibly more exciting for me than flowers (a foliage floozy?), despite the fact that I adore the plethora of Hellebore and Hyacinth currently in blooms all around me.
ReplyDeleteAs with everything else, both your Acer palmatum (which I also grow), are far ahead of my own. I envy your magnificent artichoke plants, which I've not succeeded in growing, and noticed the excellent stone steps you added to the back slope.
Continued watering of the Ginkgo biloba is an investment in its success, fingers crossed.
Glad to see the Yucca 'Bright Star' making its way back. I think you said you'll try to root the decapitated portion. Any luck?
My husband put in that concrete block stairway down our slope during our first or second year here (before I started blogging I think). He was concerned because I kept falling on my backside trying to navigate that incline using a dirt path. It was quite an effort on his part, especially as he had to work around embedded rock (our neighborhood used to be a rock quarry) and I'm very thankful to have it.
DeleteI do have the decapitated top of the original Yucca 'Bright Star' in a pot. In followup to your question, I tipped it out of its pot but I couldn't find evidence of any significant root activity. However, it still looks be be in pristine condition so it appears additional patience is in order.
Your ginkgo is way ahead of mine, which shows no sign whatsoever of leafing out. That's not to say I am worries as it's still really cool here. Love that little bit of foliage poking out of the ground in the last shot(s). Please keep us posted!
ReplyDeleteI think Hoover Boo got 2 Yucca 'Bright Stars' from the plant she cut down to the ground. I'm hoping mine will be as generous, not that I'm not already pleased to see proof of life. In response to a question from chavliness, I checked the decapitated top of the original plant I potted up and, although it hasn't produced obvious roots, it still looks good.
DeleteYour foliage tour is so interesting. I think your Calliandra haematocephala makes a great hedge. A few decades ago many people planted the cultivar Bradford pear around this area and they've turned out not to be sterile as advertised, quite invasive actually in NC. The Arboretum in Raleigh is now offering a bounty on them and will give owners 5 free native trees for removal of one Bradford. They blooming everywhere I go this week and do look gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that Bradford pears can be a headache in many places, Susie. Our tree came with the garden and, although the litter resulting from the fallen berries can be a pain and the late winter flowers have a somewhat unpleasant odor, there's been no sign of the invasive spread you experience in NC. Despite its heavy fruit drop, I've yet to ever come across a single self-seeded plant.
DeleteI've also been admiring the fresh new foliage out in the garden. So lovely compared to how it will look in August.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what happened when I cut 'Bright Star's to the ground--new rosettes come up nearby. It's hard to get rid of a Yucca completely.
Given how expensive Yucca 'Bright Star' has become (and the fact that no garden center nearby seems to sell it in less than a 2-gallon pot), it's ability to regenerate is appreciated. If only it sprouted and grew faster, I'd go into business selling the progeny to support my gardening habit!
DeleteSo happy your Yucca is coming back! Bradford pears are extremely invasive in Alabama, too. Lots of white everywhere out in the country when I do errands. Had one pop up along the property line in the side woods belonging to a neighbor and cut it down. It was covered with clusters of small hard fruit.
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara! The ornamental pears certainly do produce a lot of fruit, none of which even the birds seem to eat. Luckily, there's no sign that they willingly self-seed here.
DeleteOh yes, this is really a fascinating post, Kris. In addition to your incredible blooms, you do indeed have some stand-out foliage in your garden!
ReplyDeleteGiven our mild winters, most of our foliage is evergreen so its appearance doesn't change much. The new foliage on deciduous plants is much more noticeable!
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