Foliage Follow-up, a favorite combination…

For Foliage Follow-up this month I’m keeping it simple and highlighting a favorite combination in my garden. So much color and texture and none of it from flowers…

I see this scene at least 3 times a day when I return home from walking the dog, sometimes even more than that. It never fails to thrill me. Left to right is Brachyglottis greyi (used to be known as Senecio greyi), Amsonia hubrichtii, Canna x generalis 'Tropical Bronze Scarlet,' Agave ovatifolia, Yucca rostrata, Rhamnus frangula (Fine Line Buckthorn).

Want to see what foliage is thrilling other garden bloggers around the world? Pam hosts “Foliage Follow-up” on her blog Digging the 16th of every month. Click on over to her blog for links to more fabulous foliage.

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Leucadendron ‘Ebony’…my fav plant this week and foliage follow-up feature!

It’s a tall order to be both my favorite plant in the garden this week AND the monthly foliage follow-up feature but if ever there was a plant up for the challenge I think it’s this one, even with its diminutive size!

My first ever sighting of Leucadendron ‘Ebony’ was at the Ruth Bancroft Garden during the GBF. It is safe to say it stopped me in my tracks.

Fortunately for me Gerhard (Bamboo Succulents and More) had driven down from Davis, CA, to meet-up with us Flingers at the garden (yes that’s me with Gerhard below, thanks to Pam for taking our photo! and yes, that is a smile on my face, really)…

Gerhard knew they were growing a few of these at the garden nursery and had a hunch they’d be part of the upcoming Summer Plant Sale…why not ask if they’d sell us one? It took awhile but finally the decision was made (we were judged to be worthy) and he and I were both handed a 1-gallon Leucadendron ‘Ebony’…yay!

As these things tend to happen guess what I spied at a garden we visited later in the day?

Yep.

And then that evening at Flora Grubb…

Yep.

A (small) 7-gallon size for $149, makes my 1-gallon for $15 look like the bargain of the century!

We were warned our plants hadn’t been potted up long enough to fully develop their roots, so I very carefully planted it in a small container to let it grow on a bit. However since I love it with that bright green colored pot I’ve already bought the next size up so I can repot it in a month or two. Even though he’ll never be in the ground in my garden (not hardy here in Portland) I want him to grow up big and tall…

The stats:

• In the Proteaceae family, from South Africa
• Evergreen (black) foliage with burgundy flowers in the winter and spring
• Eventual size 3-4 ft all x 3-5 ft wide
• Full sun with low water needs
• Winter hardiness 20-25F

And a little history “It was discovered in 2007 by John Francis in a cultivated cut flower field of Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' in Waimauku, northwest of Auckland, New Zealand. It received its US Plant Patent 23,258 in December 2012. In its patent application it was noted that it differed from the parent plant by having purple-black colored leaves and bracts instead of green leaves and red bracts such as are found on 'Safari Sunset'.” From the San Marcos Growers website.

Foliage Follow-up is a monthly feature over on Pam Penicks blog Digging, click on over there for links to other blogs celebrating foliage this month. My Favorite Plant in the Garden is a weekly feature here on danger garden, please join in with post on your favorite plant in your garden "right now." Feel free to do so whenever the inspiration strikes, weekly, monthly or whenever! And please leave a comment on my most recent “fav” post so we can all head over to your blog and learn about your current favored plant.

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Adiantum pedatum, my favorite plant in the garden (this week)...

During one of my many plant purging digs (our fist summer here) I uncovered a tiny graceful black stem with the brightest of chartreuse leaves. It had been buried under an over grown mass of “those ferns” (code for I have no idea what they are but see them in a lot of old gardens) and was just barely alive. At the time I had no idea of its name but I know it now as Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum), since that day it has grown into a delicate powerhouse of a plant.

I like how it acts as a compliment to the larger hosta leaves nearby.

The stats:

• Hardy in zones 3-8
• Eventually reaches a size of 1-2.5 ft tall x 1-1.5 ft wide
• Likes part shade to full shade and will tolerate dense shade
• Deciduous

Here’s an interesting picture of the single one of “those ferns” that I left in place. I cut it completely back each spring so the new growth can shine, I don’t remember ever seeing it form such a cone shape...

Since I’m combining this “fav plant of the week” post with Pam’s monthly Foliage Follow-up it's only right to add a second plant (and in fact I originally planned to feature this one, but then got distracted by the fern) I give you Equisetum hyemale (Horsetail rush)...

It’s pushing out a ton of fat new growth right now and just looks fabulous, although I couldn't get a great picture no matter how hard I tried.

The stats:

• This is highly invasive, only plant it where you can contain it!
• Hardy in zones 4-9
• Height: 2 to 4 ft, spread: 1 to 6 ft
• Full sun to shade
• Likes it's feet to be wet

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Fine Foliage, for Foliage Follow-up…

Over the last few weeks I’ve taken quite a few photos of this Grevillea victoriae 'Murray Queen' intending to post about it for a “favorite plant of the week” feature, however something a little louder kept stealing the show. Funny thing though, my eye keeps being drawn to it…

Perhaps even more compelling is this Magnolia laevifolia 'Snowbird' I could stare at it for hours, just like this…no bloom (although the blooms are pretty sweet).

Of course you see what they have in common; it’s the combination of green foliage and orangey brown bud that gets me, I’m drawn like a moth to flame. I think that’s why I find the mahogany bark on Arctostaphylos is so appealing, the green/brown combo again.

Or the dark red new growth on Mahonia gracilipes…

And why Phormium ‘Tom Thumb’ will always be my favorite small Phormium.

But of course Mother Nature makes it easy when great color combos occur naturally, on the same plant. It’s a little more challenging when you’ve got a wealth of different plants, all ones you love, to know which ones will harmonize and create a spectacular combination. Do you go for contrast, or tones that blend? What about texture, or mixing variegation? We can all use a little help from the experts, and that’s where the new book Fine Foliage by Karen Chapman and Christina Salwitz comes in...

Reading it was a treat. Here are two ladies (three if you count the photographer) who spent months dreaming up foliage groupings, naming them, and then braking down the elements to tell us why they feel each combo works. Now I’ll admit personally there were a few too many Heucheras for me (I still don’t care for them), but even I could see beyond that and understand the particular feature that plant brought to each collection. Now for my favorite image from the book…

photo by Karen Chapman courtesy of St. Lynn’s Press

Isn’t that gorgeous? Not only is it green and orangey but it’s fuzzy too! The big leaf is Rhodoendron pachysanthum and the grass is Carex testacea. What to see more fabulous foliage? Today is "foliage follow-up" hosted by Pam Penick at her blog Digging, if you visit you'll see a list of other bloggers participating in the event. Let’s look at that photo again, because I’m in love…

photo by Karen Chapman courtesy of St. Lynn’s Press

(I received a complementary review copy of Fine Foliage from St Lynn’s Press, however was under no obligation to write about it.)

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

My Foliage Follow-up trip to Lowes

I wasn't going to post for Foliage Follow-up this month, just too busy! Then our door lock failed and I made an emergency trip to Lowes. I’d seen these plants last weekend when we were there for another project but was too busy to stop. This time they called to me from all the way inside the store! The next thing I knew I was out in the garden center admiring them.

These are plants I would expect to see at a Lowes south, not here in Portland, Oregon. “Drought tolerant” is a good quality in plants, even here. After all we can go weeks (or last year…months) without water in the summer. But drought tolerant succulents that aren’t hardy in our zone, that’s another thing entirely.

Was there any mention of that? No. Yes if you flipped over the tag there was zone information in (tiny) print at the bottom, but does everyone know what zone their garden is in? I doubt it. When these plants are sold right next to the (hardy) sempervivium and sedum how many novice gardeners are going to think they are "the same?"

So you’ve got cool plants, for under $10, but no labeling telling the unknowledgeable that they’re gonna die come winter. I think this is a problem. Do you agree or am I being cranky?

Oh and that yucca I bought last year at Home Depot, the one labeled as Yucca filamentosa which really is Yucca gloriosa variegata.

Well now Lowes has them, still labeled Yucca filamentosa and selling for $7.98.

Not wanting to end up all Foliage Follow-up Debbie-downer on you I found a couple of things from my garden to share. First of all it just doesn't get any better than this for new spring foliage, Veratrum Californicum.

Beautiful, no?

I was starting to worry about the Podophyllum but here they are starting to stick their heads out of the ground (I'm not sure which one this is).

And overnight the Syneilesis (Shredded Umbrella Plant) are also starting to emerge! Every day this week I've been searching for them, afraid we stepped on them with the removal of the hydrangea project. Yesterday not a thing, this morning I looked out the window and there they were!

For more Foliage Follow-up visit Pam at Digging for links to other blogs participating this month, there's bound to be lots of happy new spring green!

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Foliage Follow-up for February

I’m cheating a bit and taking you back to the Yard, Garden & Patio Show for this month’s Foliage Follow-up. Every year our Hardy Plant Society of Oregon puts together a wonderful display of plants with winter interest. These branches and bits are donated from member gardens and our local nurseries. Here are a few things I thought were interesting, maybe you’ll find something new to you that you’ll want to add to your garden…

Metapanax delavayi

Sarracenia rubra subsp. jonesii

Sedum confusum

Eriobotrya japonica

Magnolia maudiae

Magnolia delavayi

Lomatia myricoides

Stachyurus salicifolia

Convolvulus cneorum

Rhododendron 'Ebony Pearl'

Rhododendron argyrophyllum 'Chinese Silver'

Cardiocrinum giganteum seed pods

Iris foetidissima seed pod

Trachycarpus fortunei fruit

In the corner of the display was this attention grabbing foliage dress...perfect for your next night out on the town! For more foliage fun visit Pam's blog Digging, she's our hostess for the event.