September 16, 2010

Foliage Adds Interest

Pam over at Digging hosts a Foliage Follow-Up every month.  Be sure to check out the links in her comments section to see the interesting ways other garden folk use foliage to create textural interest and add color to their landscape.  www.penick.net/digging


A Crape Myrtle trunk has beautiful variations in color this time of year and the peeling bark reveals a new canvas daily.


This Live Oak bark creates visual interest with it's amazing texture and color...


and this native Persimmon tree is sporting curled pieces of bark with rich red undertones.


The dwarf papyrus in the stock tank pond has been forming seed heads since early August.


The native grasses in the green space behind my yard are so pretty as they dance in the breeze.


It seems as if the Sumac trees have doubled in size this season - thriving with the consistent rainfall.

This Japanese Yew adds nice texture year round but in the fall it makes these seeds that go from
 light green to bright red to a deep purple. 


Virginia Creeper has been planted along my fence to hide the screen I've put up to keep the rabbits out.  I love the color it's added behind the Mediterranean Palm.


This Upright Elephant Ear produces the most amazing leaves - once mature they reach sizes of 33" or so from stem to tip!


Another angle of the Upright Elephant.  These leaves remind me of Georgia O'Keeffe paintings.


The red stems of this Metallic Elephant Ear mimic the red at the edges of the leaf.  I wonder if each leaf is as unique as a finger print?

This Elephant Ear was a gift from a friend so I'm not sure of the variety but the leaves have a pretty ruffled edge and it's very sturdy.   A lot of my elephant ears will fall over in the wind or just when tired
but this one always stands at attention. 

I've struggled a bit with the Lamb's Ear this summer.  This is my lone survivor; one fell to the heat of August and another to the torrential rain we had last week.  They are lovely if given a little protection from the afternoon sun and well drained soil.

Martha Gonzales Antique Rose has stunning color even without blooms.  She would like more sun but has bloomed relatively well with a few hours of afternoon sun.  

This Palm Grass was a recent find at Barton Springs Nursery.  I planted three 4" plants in July and they have filled in nicely.  They have an interesting leaf and make a nice rustling sound in the wind.

There isn't much left of the Flat Leaf Parsley!  It has played host to the swallowtail caterpillars all summer.  This last group of 5 took it down to bare stems.  It has already started to recover though
 and I'm hoping to move it to the ground for the fall/winter season.

This Variegated Flax Lily has finally started to fill in and make it's presence known.  It would probably like a little more sunlight but still manages to make progress.  It really stands out among the green of the River Fern, Lily-of-the-Nile Agapanthus, Japanese Aralia and Fig Vine.

Purple Heart is a gardener's delight.  It can tolerate pretty much anything you throw at it and has beautifully rich purple leaves with small pale pink flowers at the tips.

 This Windmill Palm is radiant in the afternoon sun and brightens up this spot against the fence.   It's evergreen and didn't show any stress from the freezes of last winter.

The Japanese Maple stands out in the landscape with it's striking color and delicate leaves.  It requires extra water during the heat of the summer and afternoon shade but it's worth the trouble!

5 comments:

  1. Loved this post!! So many beautiful plants and photos. Your comments about each of the plants is great. I love that you even mentioned the sound one of the plants makes in the wind! Great job!

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  2. Yours is the 2nd blog I read today with Palm Grass - I'm liking the looks of that plant. Wonder how it would do in my shady garden.

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  3. Very pretty post! You have a lot of pretty foliage. We live by an open space, as well. I need to put up the wire to keep our new little dog IN our backyard. :/ I like the papyrus and I bet your stock tank is beautiful.

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  4. Thanks for all the sweet comments Martha! Love you!

    RBell, imho the Palm Grass would be beautiful in your shady garden. Mine gets very little sun; maybe 1/2 hour or so of direct. It's gotten fairly big - 2.5 feet tall in a couple of months. It was a good value too - easily transplants from 4" pots.
    Let me know what you think if you decide to go for it!

    Amy the stock tank has been such a joy this summer. There is always something fun going on out there. Do you see coyote in the green space behind your place? We do occassionally but still have a lot of bunnies! Thanks for the nice comment!

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  5. I just found your foliage post and love all the variety that you've shown! I'll be curious to see how your flax lily does over time. They are so pretty.

    Thanks for the link. Next time if you'd like to leave a comment on my foliage post, other foliage-lovers can find yours too.

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