Foliage: Lost among the flowers?

In early Spring even the most foliage-focused gardeners I know can be distracted by the colorful blooms that take the stage by storm.  For someone like me who's a bit flower-obsessed to begin with, it can be difficult to even see the foliage for the flowers.  I recently took time to survey the foliage in my garden in a effort to balance my outlook.  I won't share every one of my foliage stand-outs (I covered many of these back in late December), just those that grabbed my attention for one reason or another this month.

The first one is a new introduction to my garden.

This is Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' (aka Golden Full Moon Maple), a dwarf Japanese maple I picked up at my local garden center in late February.  It reportedly has requirements similar to other Japanese maples; however, I belatedly discovered that my Sunset Western Garden Book doesn't recommend this species for my area.  So far, it's doing alright in a protected area with morning sun exposure.  I'm crossing my fingers that it'll survive our summer.

As usual, many of my top foliage picks are succulents.

I thought all the Crassula I planted here next to the Aeonium arboreum was C. pubescens radicans but only some of it's developed that variety's characteristic deep red color.  I like the mix of colors in any case.

I grow a lot of Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi'.  Last year, I added a variety called 'Kiwi Verde'.  I initially considered it 'Kiwi's' duller cousin but I've grown fond of it.  While it doesn't have the pronounced variegation 'Kiwi' is known for, the rosettes still develop attractive red edges and it's an even more robust grower.

Agave 'Blue Flame'  is making quite a statement in my south-side succulent bed this year

A couple of months ago, I added Aeonium 'Zwartkop' to embellish these 'Blue Glow' Agaves but  Lotus bethelotii 'Amazon Sunset' provides a nice accent too

Albuca spiralis 'Frizzle Sizzle' has emerged from its long underground nap

A variety of shrubs also caught my eye.

This is Artemisia californica, a California native as the name suggests.  It looked sad after summer's intense heat and I cut my 2 shrubs back hard.  They're looking great now.

Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' adds a subtle note of variegation to this bed in my front garden

Melianthus major has sprung back after I cut it nearly to the ground.  It provides a handsome contrast to Leucadendron 'Jester' and Phormium 'Amazing Red' here.

This is a plant I'd all but forgotten about until I cut back the ornamental grass that had threatened to envelop it.  It's Ochna serrulata, aka Mickey Mouse Bush.  I planted it in November 2014 and, even now, it's only a foot tall at best.  It's supposed to reach 8 feet in height at maturity but it certainly seems to be making a slow start.  It's an interesting plant, though, so I'll give it more time.

This is Pelargonium cucullatum 'Flore Plenum', possibly the most vigorous Pelargonium I've ever grown.  It produces pretty flowers but it's the foliage that originally attracted me.  Despite it's crinkly leaves, it's almost silky to the touch and it looks great when backlit.

I'll close with a succulent combination I'm particularly pleased with at the moment.

Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' and Hesperaloe parviflora make a happy combination

That's it for me this week.  Wherever you are, I hope you're treated to a warm, pleasant, sunny weekend.


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Foliage Follow-up - August 2017

Most of my posts probably scream "flower addict" but foliage is really the dominant feature of my garden.  That's clearest during the mid-to-late summer months when flowers retreat from view.

There are still a few flowers in the front garden but I think this photo shows the importance of foliage here.  The swaths of chartreuse color are provided by Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' and Duranta repens.  The red tones of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' are echoed in Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' and Coprosma 'Fireburst'.  Phormium 'Maori Queen' marries the chartreuse and red colors, helping to tie everything together.

The large clumps of red fountain grass are more visible in this photo.  The magenta seedpods of Cercis occidentalis and the red color of selected succulents on the front-facing slope pick up the red color of the grasses.

The Coprosma 'Fireburst' shown in this photo in front of Phormium 'Maori Queen' and Euphorbia characias 'Black Pearl' was added recently to replace a Grevillea 'Pink Midget' which found this area a bit too dry.  There are 2 other 'Fireburst' shrubs in the same bed already.

Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' provides more red/orange color in this section of the front garden closer to the south end of the house.  Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' contributes a softer version of the same warm tones elsewhere in the bed and there are more red echoes in the distance, provided by Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' and Pennisetum 'Fireworks'.  The Leucadendron also echoes the chartreuse of the large Duranta behind it.

There were a few individual foliage stand-outs elsewhere I want to highlight this month as well.

After nearly 4 years in this bed in the backyard, 2 of my Agave lophantha 'Quadicolor' have finally produced pups

I planted this Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light' in just the right spot near the front of the long border in the back garden.  I'm planning to move 2 others forward this fall so they can also shine.

Artemisia ludoviciana seedlings planted themselves in various areas of the garden.  Unsure as to what they were, I moved them to this area in the cutting garden.  They've become a bit tall for the space but their placement has been useful as I frequently include the foliage in floral arrangements as a filler.  I also like how the foliage captures the late afternoon sun.

Pam at Digging hosts Foliage Follow-up each month after Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  To see her August foliage picks and those of other gardeners, click here.


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Foliage Follow-up - April 2017

I usually try to link my Foliage Follow-up selections together with some kind of theme but, after the intensity of my Bloom Day post, I'm just too dazzled by the glory of spring at the moment to bother with anything more than a hodge-podge series of photos of what caught my fancy on recent spins through the garden.

Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku', one of only 2 Japanese maples in my garden, was late to leaf out this year so I was very pleased when it suddenly sprang to life

I'm also happy to see that at least 3 of my Artemisia versicolor 'Seafoam' are doing well (A few others, purchased as plugs, are struggling)

I continue to be tickled by the artichoke growing below a fig tree on the steep back slope.  It disappears during the height of summer but comes back with the winter rains and this year it's huge.  And now it has 2 chokes!

I'm also pleased with this Origanum 'Norton Gold', which I prefer out of rather than in bloom

Fuzzy gray seedlings grew up through the gravel and in other obscure places in the garden and, once I determined that they probably weren't weeds, I moved them to the cutting garden.  I'm fairly certain these are Stachys byzantina, although the leaves are thinner than those I've previously grown.  I'm not sure where the seedlings came from as the only place I've had Lamb's Ear for years is at the bottom of the back slope.

This is a mix of succulents growing in the sandiest soil in the garden, located next to the back patio.  Although the Agave colorata (right foreground) is still very small, I like how the rest of the plants, grown from cuttings and plugs, have filled in. The mix includes Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi Verde', Crassula mesembryanthemodies, Graptosedum 'California Sunset', Kalanchoe orgyalis and Senecio scaposus.  The Kalanchoe was intended to complement Cordyline 'Electric Flash' but it perished.  They'll eventually be too big for this area but I'm enjoying them now.

For more foliage photos, visit our Foliage Follow-up host, Pam at Digging.  Best wishes for a happy spring!


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

September Plant Favorites

I have to thank Loree of danger garden for hosting a review of the plants that win favorite status each month.  At the end of summer in Southern California, it's hard to avoid looking at the garden with a jaundiced eye.  Entering the garden for the purpose of identifying what's looking good shifts the paradigm.  Yes, there's another dead Leucadendron and many plants are stressed by our current heatwave, but there are still a lot of plants delivering on the promise they held when I planted them.

Planted last May and only a fraction of the 6 foot tall specimen it may eventually become, this Plectranthus ecklonii was happy enough to bloom.  My first 2 attempts to grow this plant failed, probably due to excessive sun exposure.  The grower recommends half day sun, which is roughly what it gets sitting behind a dense hedge with northwest exposure but it was still touch and go for a while this summer.  Extra water helped.

The Osteospermums seem to perk up when nighttime temperatures grow cooler.  They responded to that condition earlier this month by blooming in earnest.  Osteospermum '4D Silver', marketed as an improved version of '3D Silver' and offering blooms that remain open in low light, has been blooming non-step all month.  They're short-lived perennials in our climate.

Two of my current favorites are shown here: Phormium 'Tom Thumb' and Artemisia versicolor 'Seafoam'.  I planted 3 of each in July and all are doing well, which is remarkable as planting in July here is foolish at best.  'Tom Thumb' has an interesting form and bronze edges along its green leaves and it handles the afternoon shade in this location.  I've been so pleased by the 'Seafoam' that I recently ordered 6 more by mail when I couldn't find them locally.

With apologies for the sun-soaked photo on the left, I nonetheless wanted to share Hebe 'Purple Shamrock' in bloom.  I planted 3 of these small Hebes last November purely for their foliage, which makes me think of stained glass when it's backlit (as shown in a photo from last December on the right) but the dainty lavender blue flowers they produced this month are a bonus.

My photos of Trichostema 'Midnight Magic' aren't any better than that of the Hebe despite repeated attempts but I also couldn't let it go without notice this month.  I've killed at least 2 T. lanatum (aka woolly curls), a notoriously touchy California native, but this hybrid of T. lanatum and T. purpusii is far more forgiving.  After producing a few blooms now and again, it's rewarded me with lots of blue blooms this month.

The succulents generally pull their weight regardless of the weather so I don't always give them the scrutiny the shrubs and perennials get but a few did warrant attention this month.

Agave 'Jaws' Junior, seen in the photo on the left in front of 'Jaws' Senior, is growing at a remarkable rate.  I haven't decided whether to let him remain in the fraternal embrace or relocate him but I'm impressed by his size - just back in July, he was so small I almost stepped on him.  His growth led me to check the status of my other infant agaves.  I planted 7 A. desmettiana pups (see photo top right) along the front slope last year and all are also growing quickly.  Agave mitis 'Multicolor' (middle right), a gift from Denise of A Growing Obsession last year, started life as a bulbil of her plant (see Denise's post on this here) and is now 4 inches tall.  In contrast, Agave montana (lower right), possibly the tiniest agave I've ever received by mail order, is growing but slowly.

I don't like the flowers produced by most succulents but I do appreciate those produced by this still small Faucaria tigrina variegata.

A couple of very ordinary plants also caught my notice for very different reasons.

The flowers of Catananche caerulea (Cupid's Dart) are gone but I like the silvery bracts left behind even more

Helichrysum petiolare 'Licorice Splash', planted last year, has thrived under a tree in dry shade without attempting world domination as the common species is prone to do in my garden

Visit Loree to see what earned her notice and that of other meme participants this month.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party