Gardeners the world over are haunt with flowers . I am no elision . As well as being beautiful to look at , flowers are a polarity of success , something one can assess a garden and its gardener by . Along with yield and veg , flower are part of the horticultutal triumvirate we choose to guess competitively , always striving to produce them bigger and better than others .
foster a plant to the detail where it bears flowers is one of the great challenges and reward of gardening . Throughout story nurseryman have gone to extreme lengths and waited patiently for cherished plants to blossom ; from the heated water tank built at Kew by Joseph Paxton to coaxVictoria amazonicainto efflorescence , to the 70 year waitress by environmentalist to see rarified red rattlesnake plantain flowering in Gloucestershire . We are all all-day sucker for heyday , but without foliage most blooms would , quite literally , amount to nothing .
Apart from the obvious role folio play in create fuel for a plant to prosper and reproduce , the purpose of foliage as a foil for bloom can not be lowball . A neatly trimmed lawn can make the seedy border look estimable , a frame fringe of trees will anchor a freshly make garden , and well - maintained hedges will provide the structure to hold in any amount of profuse blossom . Without leafage our garden would be about as advanced and lovely as one of those repellent pot chrysanthemums bred to produce a leafless dome of gaudy flowers .
Both our gardens rely intemperately on greenery for year - unit of ammunition interest group . Flowers , whilst treasured , play 2nd fiddle . at times I bewail a temporary want blooms , but then I see more closely and treasure the richness of the leaves and stem that would support them . Foliage lasts longer than any prime I know and , chosen well , can offer just as much people of colour , texture , variety and indeed fragrance .
Foliage is a gardener’s staunchest ally. Flowers are fairweather friends that you should enjoy when they grace you with their presence, but not mourn when they are gone.
Our coastal garden has always been preponderantly unripened , but this year I have been experimenting with silver , red , burgungy and purple - leaved plants . I am specially fond of the combining ofHibiscus‘Mahogany Splendour’,Fuchsia‘Contrast’,Cestrum fasciculatum‘Newellii’,Plectranthus argenteaandTradescantia‘Purple Sabre ’ shown below . Just out of shot areBegonia ‘ Benitochiba ’ andGeranium sidoideswhich I ’ve added to the piece of music as the summer has gone on .
To mask our rickety former aluminium greenhouse , I ’ve grouped together pot occupy withPennisetum glaucum‘Purple Majesty’,Begonia‘Little Brother Montgomery’,Begonia luxurians , Imperata cylindrica‘Red Baron ’ and some semen - rise coleus . The flowers of a trailing red geranium and magentaSalvia curvifloraare welcome , but not essential for me to enjoy the colorful arrangement .
As autumn approaches tender perennials such asMelianthus majorandSolanum laciniatummake a mad dash for it , throwing up increasing sum of leaf in an attempt to catch as much sunshine as potential . This make for a wondrous jungly impression in both gardens .
Our London garden is full of interesting foliage plants, fromPersicaria virginiana‘Compton’s Form’ toHydrangea quercifolia.
If you ’re planning an new garden , or a just remember about replanting a little region , my advice is to think about foliage first and flowers second . This may go counterintuitive , but it ’s the leaves you ’ll be enjoy next to one another for months on end , not the peak , so it ’s far more of import to get the combination right . Foliage can be quiet and calming , cut back and stately , bold and architectural or lavish and alien . The choice is yours , and the choice is endless .
I ’d love to hear your thought on foliage and about combination that have worked well for you this summertime .
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Categories : Foliage , Garden Design , Photography , Plants
Posted by The Frustrated Gardener
Astelia nervosa‘Westland’,Fuchsia microphyllaandDicksonia antarcticacreate texture and interest in a shady corner
Begonia luxurians, Imperata cylindrica‘Red Baron’, coleus and begonias in our new coastal garden
Aeonium‘Zwartkop’,Plectranthus argentea,Tradescantia‘Purple Sabre’,Cestrum fasciculatum‘Newellii’ andHibiscus‘Mahogany Splendour’
Plectranthus fruticosus‘Behr’s Pride’ is a great tender foliage plant for part shade
