When the Understudy Becomes the Star

The Foliage Forecast – A Tale about Transition and the Size of Things to Come

A tapestry of small-scale plants right next to the sidewalk! Leucothoe ‘Rainbow’, ‘Rheingold’ Arborvitae, Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’, Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’, Nandina ‘Gulf Stream’, ‘Wissel’s Saguaro’ False Cypress, Spirea ‘Double Play Gold’, ‘Tri-Color’ Sage, Senecio cineraria ‘Cirrus’, Dwarf Hemlock.

The downsizing of America‘s landscape is upon us. Just like our homes, cars and some of our lifestyles, we are now learning to garden more efficiently in less space without sacrificing style.

The vast majority of us don’t have giant-sized lots in our neighborhoods as our grandparents and parents might have, depending on where you live of course. 2 acre lots are considered luxurious, 5 acres are GIANT. But, most of us these days have 1 acre, 1/2 or a 1/3 acre. More and more newer planned communities like mine are even less than a quarter acre or what we call a zero lot line.

When our home lots of yesteryear were young and new, there wasn’t nearly the plethora of plants to choose from and not many resources for good gardening information the way we all depend on now. There was no one to teach us “Right Plant, Right Place“. We all piled into the station wagon, went to the nearest nursery and chose from the small selection of Junipers and Rhododendrons or whatever your local everyday average plant choice might have been long ago.

As the years went by those basic, bread and butter plants were great- they did their job. Dad would routinely hack them back every year whether they needed it or not as an act of domination over the family’s land. After all, aren’t we SUPPOSED to have a hedgerow on our All-American Homestead? Isn’t the home supposed to be snuggled with shrubs up against the house and a “Leave it to Beaver” lawn all the way to the street?

But, then while everyone was busy, those plants grew and grew and grew. Dad could only hack them back so far now. Mom can’t get around the Laurel to get to the front door. Guests have to dodge the thorny, poky plants on the walkway, the juniper on the driveway harbors a spider colony that could rival a horror movie.

Don’t we all have that story of the weekend warrior, gardening bender where someone decided that (insert ubiquitous over grown, badly placed plant here) it was high time to take that plant out? “I can’t stand it for not one more minute! Chop it down. Tear it out. Prune it into submission. Tie it to the bumper of your truck and pull that sucker out!”

Then suddenly its gone. As if by magic, the sun has broken through and now you have that SPACE. The family piles into the mini-van and heads to the local independently owned garden center and asks the smart horticulturist/salesperson for advice.

The following conversation is had thousands of times in nurseries every single day:
“We tore it all out, now its a blank slate, what do we do?”
“In your perfect universe, this new plant would be how tall and how wide when its mature in 10 years?”

Now this story is about to go one of two very distinct ways:
1) “We never want anything over 2-3 feet tall and wide. We NEVER want to have to prune it, let alone even think about it.”
OR
2) “Why can’t I just put in that plant that wants to be 25 feet tall, I will simply prune it into submission? It worked for my Dad.”

So, where does that leave us with our choices and options for the right plant in the right place? The future is now, the forecast for spectacular selection of dwarf plants of ALL types has never been better, you really can have the best of both worlds. Breeders and growers are coming out with new dwarf cultivars of nearly everything. You won’t have to settle for not having a Lilac if you can’t fit a 9-12 foot shrub in your small space garden.

Lest you think I have forgotten my foliage obsession, here is where we REALLY start to get some excitement. You CAN have magnificent color, texture, layering and multi-season interest in small garden spaces by focusing on those new plant introductions available to you these days. Dive right in!

Pick your foliage color palette, stick to it, repeat often and then break all the rules. There is simply no need to comply with rigid old standards of cramming giant plants up against the house when you have so many foliage forward options to drool over that are low maintenance, colorful and elegant.

The forecast? Our new sized lots have forced us to change how we design our gardens and landscapes. We mix edibles with ornamentals and we focus on layering in some gorgeous foliage that FITS our space rather than forcing it to conform to our lack of selection. And we are vastly more fortunate than our grandparents to have such a huge selection of stunning foliage choices to try out every year.

What are you still doing here? Get out and shop for some NEW FOLIAGE for your landscape!!

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Creating a Picture Frame with Foliage

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There were only two or three poppies when I looked out this morning. Pretty, but hardly noteworthy. Yet when these are viewed within a glorious leafy picture frame the scene suddenly comes into focus.

You see although we wrote FINE FOLIAGE we aren’t anti-flowers. It’s just that most flowers such as these poppies have only a fleeting beauty and contribution to the garden scene is equally short lived. Whereas foliage cannot only hold the garden together, it can enhance the flowers when they do have their moment in the spotlight.

Bronze fennel is a wonderful addition to the garden but be sure to cut off the flowers or you will have a lifetime supply!

These simple Oriental poppies can be viewed from many angles within my garden and so a tapestry of foliage has been used to create a multi-framed scene. Feathery bronze fennel creates a soft haze, while playing off the dark splotches at the base of each flower petal.

The perfect color echo between Double Play spirea and the distant poppies

‘Double Play’ spirea has bright rosy new growth (thanks to the deer who keep trimming it) – and these sunset tones are the perfect accompaniment to the bold orange poppies.

The late blooming Crocosmia will not only continue the color story with their orange flowers and seed heads but the foliage will hide the poppy as it goes into summer dormancy

The late blooming Crocosmia will not only continue the color story with its orange flowers and seed heads but the foliage will hide the poppy as it goes into summer dormancy

Then there are the broad vertical blades of Crocosmia (later with orange flowers), the peeling cinnamon colored bark of a paperbark maple (Acer griseum) and in the distance the bright foliage of my favorite tree – the golden locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Frisia’).

Everything looks good with a golden locust tree!

Use the foliage in your garden to frame the flowers and the entire scene will be transformed into a memorable ‘garden moment’.

(Oh and the reason there are only a few poppies? The deer ate the rest. Yes I know….. “deer don’t eat poppies“. Right….)

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Peanut Butter, Glass and WOW!

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Antonow’s Blue Honey Bush

Melianthus major ‘Antonow’s Blue’

Once you have inadvertently backed into or brushed up against the Honey Bush, you never forget that Peanut Buttery goodness of fragrance. It’s so intense! Plus, that powdery blue, ultra textured foliage is so tropical and lush in the garden, it can be compared to none other.
Later, if we have some great spring warmth, this plant blooms with burgundy, nectar abundant flowers that the birds adore.
I’m so excited about this particular plant because its a brand new Dan Hinkley introduction by Monrovia and it should be a hardier plant than previous ones that I’ve bought as “annuals” here in my zone 7 climate. Typically, I would have to overwinter them in the garage, so this will be a fun experiment. Monrovia advises that this plant best for zones 7-11.

Monrovia also recommends planting this one a bit deeper for better hardiness, so that should help too. With great drainage and partial to full sun, this plant will get the oomph it needs to build a strong base before winter. In warmer climates, they are saying this new one will be evergreen, whoo-hoo!! Dan Hinkley is THE MAN!

This one can get as tall as 8 feet. In the container that I will use it in this season, it will likely get about half that high, but that is just dandy with me. This Honey Bush is going into a teal pot that stands out over these lovely glass rocks of similar tones. I can’t wait to see it get fat and full!

Now THAT is some “Fine Foliage” all right.

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More Than Just Pie

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Why fill up your vegetable garden with rhubarb when you can use it as an ornamental plant in the garden border?

The idea of combining edibles and ornamental plants in the border is not new but we tend to think in terms of frilly lettuce, colorful Swiss chard or jewel like cherry tomatoes. Yet good old fashioned rhubarb provides some seriously dramatic foliage – like a hosta on steroids.

Nothing wimpy about these leaves!

I have a large garden which means that I am often viewing foliage combinations from quite a distance. No subtle miniatures for me! When I say I need bold foliage I mean BOLD foliage – and rhubarb delivers. Certainly there are fabulous ornamental cultivars whose color may be rosier and leaves might be sharper, but when you need to fill up a big space on a small budget it’s hard to beat the simple edible variety.

Need more reasons to use it? Here’s a BIG plus – deer and rabbits ignore it which earns it major points in my garden and explains why I don’t need to enclose it within my fortified vegetable garden. (Slugs and unexpected hail storms can do damage but that goes for most leafy plants).

How to use it

A bold sculpture needs something equally dramatic

As a focal point near a seating area or sculpture.

As a trail marker to indicate the start of a pathway

To balance the scale of a large container

To contrast with the finely cut foliage of plants such as astilbe and bugbane (Cimicifuga).

To provide a backdrop for smaller flowers

Let it go to seed to create a stunning rhubarb sculpture!

Or….just make pie.

The Bold and the Blissful

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Gardens that are fortunate to have shade or part sun, have design options for special effects with foliage colors and textures that the full sun gardens envy. It’s imperative to take notice of the high contrast details from every angle, they’re worth ogling!

This series of photos illustrates some combinations of plants where the bold leaves in all of their drama, meets the delicate, lacy, strappy, exquisite tendrils, fronds, and froth of smaller foliage. Some of the photos are simply pointing out foliage details that ought to be noted!
Gold variegated Yucca on the left and a white variegated Daylily both rise boldly from the fluff of Ajuga flowers in spring.
Hosta is a never ending source of options for combinations of both striking and delicate in a small area. Small space gardeners rejoice! On the left, this clean white variegated Hosta is paired with fragrant Sarcococca humulis. On the right is a blue and gold painted Hosta with a fluffy chartreuse fern. Both design companions highlight each plants strength beautifully.

The old-fashioned lace of this fern, Athyrium n. ‘Ghost’ unfurling in front of the seersucker texture of the Hosta in the background is pure composition bliss.

Keeping the color palette bright and yet subtle make it impossible to ignore the fine filigree details of the Fern against the Hosta.

A subtle circle of Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium n. ‘Pictum’) is mesmerizing with its variety of color and textures.

The Cobra heads on these emerging fern fronds were enough of a detail to stop me in my tracks!

Variegated Lily of the Valley is the dramatic broad-leaved companion downstage from the tousle of red and bronze foliage of the Astilbe.

Prominent and pronounced leaves of the Rheum or Ornamental Rhubarb stand tall and proud in the border with machismo. If you bend down and look at the undersides of the foliage on a bright day, you can see through the light bronze and enjoy the more feminine, cinnamon and mauve-pink coloration from underneath.

The delicate, almost crochet looking leaves of green are in their own contrasting striped jail of golden variegated Iris foliage budding up for spring.

This Rodgersia may have the texture of Elephant skin but certainly not the color! Milk chocolate foliage is a delicious contrast to the smooth as lemon chiffon pie yellow of the Carex in the background.

Kirengeshoma palmata or Yellow wax-bells is a late season bloomer with soft butter cream-colored flowers. But, until August, we will need to be thrilled with this fine-cut silvery foliage.

Bergenia and Hellebore are done blooming and now they become a sturdy green backdrop for the soft grassy texture of Molinia c. Variegata or Variegated Moore Grass.

This Box Honeysuckle, Lonicera n. ‘Twiggy’ is the perfect golden compliment to the broad-leaved, fresh green foliage surrounding it.

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One Plant – Two Ways

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Simple contrast; hosta and shamrock

Who knew a humble Pacific Northwest native groundcover could offer such variety? Shamrock (Oxalis oregana) can be seen spreading with ease in the dappled light of our deciduous forests yet in the garden it is not difficult to keep within bounds.

This evergreen beauty has velvety, evergreen foliage which is studded with white flowers in spring, each having a distinct lavender vein.

Option 1; The co-star

No second fiddle here – the shamrock and hosta share the limelight equally in this serene monochromatic combination.

Why it works.

1. Great contrast between the matte shamrock leaves and the glossy hosta foliage

2. A perfect match of green!

3. Exciting contrast in leaf shape between the two plants

A backdrop for finer details

Option 2; The supporting player

Shamrock forms a dense mass of overlapping leaves, making it a perfect backdrop for the delicate unfurling fronds of ferns and periwinkle bluebells.

Why it works

1. The shamrock provides a clean horizontal canopy through which the ferns and bluebells can rise

2. The fresh green shamrock leaves add a backlight to the darker fern stems and bright blue flowers, throwing them into clearer focus

3. The decaying bluebells foliage will be nicely hidden by the evergreen groundcover.

Plant details

Common name; shamrock, redwood sorrel

Botanical name; Oxalis oregana

Size; 6″ high and 2″ wide with a spreading habit

Light; part shade, shade

Soil; moisture retentive

Zones; 7-9

A bonus combination can be seen in our book FINE FOLIAGE called ‘Twice Lucky’. look for it on pages 88-89!

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Fine Foliage Found at Dunn Gardens

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After spending most of last spring and summer in my hidey-hole office writing Fine Foliage in my jammies, I made the executive decision to schedule at least one day per week for some sort of a garden oriented visit. Whether its a Botanical Garden, Private Garden or a nursery, I need to re-fuel my gardening mojo this year. In this post I will share a small bit of the foliage I found at Seattle’s historic Dunn Gardens last week.

As a cynical old Hort-Head who always feels like I rarely get to see much new and exciting, May I always be BLESSED with the excitement of seeing a fern unfurling every spring.

Now having just written that last statement, why in the world have I NOT been obsessed with Rodgersia until we put it in Fine Foliage? I am simply besotted with it! I bought two in the last week. Quite the investment, but worth it!

On a guided tour, we don’t always have the time to investigate everything we want in detail, so I couldn’t properly ID this plant. But, in any case, I love the alien-esque quality of it rising all by itself in the middle of the moss with that coppery color in the sunlight. SO cool!

Newly born Podophyllum, or May Apple in the moss garden look so pre-historic. I just want to pet their fat, glossy leaves.

Rich cocoa is what these leaves make me crave. A creamy mocha perhaps? Or Rocky Road ice cream? This Hardy Geranium paired with the fresh emerald green growth of the Lilly next to it, I don’t care, I’d take either one- scrumptious!

An entire bank of Maiden Fern, oh the luscious texture, the black stems, that lovely lemon-lime color. I desperately wish for a shady spot to roll in these on a hot afternoon.

This combination under a giant fir tree would not have occurred to me in a hundred years! See, this is why I wanted to go out and get inspired! Capo Blanco Sedum and Cyclamen? HUH?? But, ya gotta give it to them, it is really cool!!!

Admittedly, I am Smurfy short, for those of you under the age of 30, go look that one up! Anyway, this combination of Mahonia (probably one like ‘Charity’) was towering over me next to the elegant Japanese Maple in the background.

The emerging Cardiocrinum or Giant Lilly with its uber glossy leaves were so cool with this frothy new fern just coming up behind it.

There are not many times in ones life (Hort-Headedly speaking of course) where you can photograph Rodgersia AND Acanthus ‘Tasmanian Angel’ AND Hosta all in the same frame. Happy dancing!!

Again, this must go into the category of things that I NEVER would have thought of in a zillion years. This is a Rhododendron, I shall name it Rhododendron ‘Cirque Du Soleil’.

The hardy Geranium ‘Samobor’ has rather faint foliage markings here in this shady woodland, but it can be quite dramatic and splashy in brighter light. I love it with the Hosta, but what don’t I love with Hosta?

It was SO bright and glarey by the time I got to this point in the garden it was almost impossible to get good shots, so even though this is not ideal light, the IDEA of this design was too good not to share. The very narrow Weeping ‘Blue Atlas’ Cedars all in a row, cascading their cool blue needles down in front of the plain Laurel Hedge was incredible. Adding that great sculpture, made it even better!

The sea creature or alien factor of this Osmunda regalis stuck with me about this plant. The foliage was pure dark chocolate- extra cool!

Gold Yew framed this selection of different Epimedium so beautifully!

A MONSTER Astelia ‘Silver Shadow’ nearly supersedes the amazing Tree fern in the rear.

I hope you enjoyed a very small taste of the yummy foliage buffet at Dunn Gardens this spring. Want more???

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When is a Cabbage more than a Cabbage?

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Were you one of those children who didn’t want to eat their ‘greens’? Turned your nose up at the smell of cooked cabbage? Well now that you’re all grown up let’s take a fresh look at this vegetable and see what else you can do with it!

This is the diva of cabbages – just look at that flirty blue foliage with magenta ribs. Surely it would be wrong to just eat it (unless you’re a slug). Just think of the possibilities in the garden though. Such big succulent foliage would be a perfect side dish to finer textures such as hardy fuchsias as shown below using the soft variegated foliage of Fuchsia magellanica ‘Versicolor’.

A perfect lesson in color echoes and scale.

Note how the tall purple alliums repeat the color of the bright veins in the cabbage leaf and how the height and scale of the metal sculpture is balanced by the hefty vegetable foliage.

Red leaf barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Atropurpure’a) would add depth to the color palette. If they are invasive in your area you could try darker leaved weigela or fringe flower (Loropetalum),

Balance the soft blue with rich purple companion foliage. A stray branch of Homestead Purple verbena draws the eye to the ribs of the cabbage foliage.

Balance the soft blue with rich purple companion foliage. A stray branch of Homestead Purple verbena (Verbena canadensis ‘Homestead Purple’) draws the eye to the ribs of the cabbage foliage.

Then just build on the idea. Put the cabbage in a fat, round pot, echo the blue tones with blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens), throw in some bold yellow accents and you have the makings of a fabulous foliage-inspired border!

A skirt of yellow Sedum ‘Angelina’ brings sparkle to the composition and repeats the color of the mounding conifers (Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Fiifera Aurea’).

Maybe cabbage isn’t so bad after all?

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Focal Points with Foliage

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Trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and container designs with foliage as the focus is a design paradigm that is finally gaining the attention it deserves. This lovely Weeping Willow planted at the Bloedel Reserve outside of Seattle is a great example of how much forethought went into this view many years ago.

However, a focal point created with foliage doesn’t have to be something planned out 50 years ago. You can have a sophisticated foliage combination by your front door that adds drama to a shady entryway and provides a transitional and versatile, season to season container.

A showy fall container on your back deck or patio to brighten up a gray autumn or winter day is an appreciated focal point element in many climates.

A path designed with lush foliage and texture as the focus might just be leading you to a WOW factor, view or vignette at the end of the path.

Or maybe that foliage focal point IS your entire design. So, how do you use foliage in YOUR focal point designs?

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Fine Foliage

Elegant Combinations for Garden and Container

When the Understudy Becomes the Star

The Foliage Forecast – A Tale about Transition and the Size of Things to Come

Creating a Picture Frame with Foliage

Peanut Butter, Glass and WOW!

Antonow’s Blue Honey Bush

Melianthus major ‘Antonow’s Blue’

More Than Just Pie

The Bold and the Blissful

One Plant – Two Ways

Fine Foliage Found at Dunn Gardens

When is a Cabbage more than a Cabbage?

Focal Points with Foliage

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Antonow’s Blue Honey Bush

Melianthus major ‘Antonow’s Blue’

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