Foliage Follow Up June 2014

June is a big month for flowers here at The Edge but the observant eye finds that the foliage is spectacular as well. Of course in my garden the foliage that is most obvious is strongly colored. There can be great texture in the garden, too, but it's much more subtle. And if there's one thing I'm not it's subtle.

Hostas are a reliable foliage plant as long as you don't have a deer problem. We have over 100 acres of woods near our house but we also have plenty of coyotes that are keeping the deer population in check. Plus these are safely inside our fence where our dogs would deal with any deer that got in - one would bark incessantly but our former street dog might try and catch them for dinner.

Another reliable group of foliage plants are the Heucheras. Breeders have been doing some amazing things with this genus - this one is called Galaxy.

Penstemon Husker Red is a nice plant that does re-seed in the garden. This particular individual is growing in a crack in the driveway.

To contrast the dark foliage I tend to choose I have a few plants with silver foliage like this Santolina [lavender cotton]

But really, I do like dark foliage, especially when it has some contrast like the fresh growth of this Sambuncus [elderberry] Black Lace

Or this Phsocarpus [ninebark] Diablo

Then again it's hard to beat the chartreuse color of my Cornus garden glow - the new leaves have an almost metallic sheen that I have yet to capture with my camera.

I mostly go for color in my choice of foliage but even I remember to include texture sometimes - grasses add nice texture and movement to the garden [like this Panicum Heavy Metal]

Thanks to Pam at Digging for this meme.