Monday, September 16, 2013

Jumping on the Foliage Follow Up Bandwagon

Lately I've been woefully late for Bloom Day and since I actually design my garden around foliage and usually capture lots of foliage combos in my Bloom Day pictures, I'm going to take a stab at an official Foliage Follow Up post this month.  At the very least I'll be on time for something.  Some of these pictures will include flowers but I promise to keep them to a minimum.
 
Head over to Pam Penick's Digging to follow all the other foliage fanatics this month. 
 

'Mojito' is not one of my favorite Colocasia cultivars but I always grab one every season.  Sometimes it has a tendency to fade into the background so this year I sited on the patio in from of my Prunus persica 'Bonfire', another great foliage plant.




Melianthus major, Plectranthus 'Troy's Gold, and Strobilanthes among other things.




That fabulous Acalpha came without a tag. Does anyone know what it might be?  Last year I lost my specimen Euphorbia cotinifolia.  At the end of the season I managed to fish a little sprig out of the base of the plant, potted it up and brought it inside for the winter.




Summer on the patio seems to have been what the doctor ordered as it's bold and beautiful once again.   For some reason local nurseries don't seem to carry this plant in their premium annual areas anymore so I'd hate to lose it.

 


Containers definitely carry the garden this time of year.  Here we have Coleus 'King Crab', Oxalis 'Copper Glow' and Alternanthera 'Red Threads'.  King Crab is part of the Hort Couture Under the Sea Coleus collection.  The varieties I managed to snag this spring were fabulous performers and are among my new favorites.



Abutilon 'Salmon Variegated', Coleus 'Fishnet Stockings' and 'Sedona' and more Alternanthera 'Red Threads'



Caladium 'Tapestry' and Coleus 'Oompah'.  Fortunately I tuck the plant tags in the pots when I plant all this stuff in the spring.  My fingers are already black from fishing around in potting soil to get as much cultivar info that I can for this post. 



 
Coleus 'Bonefish' (another from the Hort Couture Under the Sea collection), a no tag Alternanthera and a variegated pink New Guineau impatiens.



One of my Symphytum 'Axminster Gold' plants is showing some unusual variegation on a few of the leaves.  Maybe I have some new cultivar on my hands.



Can you tell I'm a sucker for Caladium?  Too bad they are almost impossible to over winter here.  Miss Muffet makes a nice companion for Coleus 'Grape Expectations'.  In the background is another favorite Coleus 'Smallwood Driveway'.



Sanchezia speciosa, Alocasia wentii and an unknown Coleus that may be Gold Lace.



Caladium 'White Christmas', Coleus 'Spumoni' and 'Margarita' sweet potato vine.




A long view of the tangled jungle that is my side entry.  Strobilanthes, Colocasia 'Illustris', Abutilon 'Souvenir de Bonn' various Coleus...



A few blades of Pennisetum 'Vertigo' cascade into another unknown Coleus and a Phygelius 'Sunshine' that overwintered in a pot in my unheated shed but has yet to bloom.  With foliage like that do we really care?



Two of my favorite hardy foliage plants-Albizia 'Summer Chocolate' and Diervilla sessilifolia 'Cool Splash'.  Since it's tough for me to get a picture that doesn't feature a Colocasia, I snuck in that 'Thai Giant' leaf for good measure.



A little bit of a happy mess here...Liriope muscari 'Variegata', Persicaria 'Red Dragon' (unfortunately an annual for me but I keep trying), and another garden workhorse, variegated New Guineau impatiens. 



Sorry to say but I am drawing a complete blank on this vine.  I bought it as an annual a few years ago and it is anything but.  In fact it's quite vigorous and climbs high into a Viburnum.My friend Monique knows what it is but she's currently celebrating her 25th anniversary in Bernuda so I can't ask.  Anybody?
 


From my worn out front curb garden a variegated Yucca with Microbiota decussata.  Look closely and you can see a Lychnis coronaria seedling in the middle of the Microbiota.



My garden does not get enough sun to support large grasses as evidenced by this poor flopping Miscanthus 'Sarabande'.  However I can't resist growing them so I have a few.  That poor little Castor Bean picked up on sale during the July heat wave didn't get enough water.  Due to the toxicity, I tend to plant things like Castor Bean in outlying areas of the garden that are not accessible to the Nickster.  Then I forget about them.


 
 
Here is one Castor Bean I did not forget about.  Occasionally all the planets align and they get quite large here.  I've even had them reseed.




Happy Foliage Follow Up Day from the Nickster!  I still intend to post my Bloom Day pictures at some point this week.  Just not tonight.

Sue~


20 comments:

  1. Great post Sue ! I am at a loss as to why the Alternantheras are never seen in nurseries out here. I would plant them right in the garden if I could find them.

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    1. Next May I'll have to pack up a box of them and send it to you. Remind me.

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  2. I cannot believe how much color you get out of your foliage and the color combinations are beautiful.

    Love the second picture of Melianthus major, Plectranthus 'Troy's Gold, and Strobilanthes...and the White Christmas is great, too!

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    1. I know lots of people think I'm nuts for planting so many tender plants every year but it's the tropical stuff that keeps things colorful and carries the garden right up to frost.

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  3. Wow! You have some really unusual and stunning foliage combos, especially all those Coleus varieties that I've never heard of. Your Symphytum is so cool. Great Post! Is your vine maybe Campsis radicans/Trumpet Vine?

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    1. I want to say the vine is an annual(or sold as an annual) Honeysuckle or Jasmine but I can't get a google ID. Definitely not a Campsis. When Monique gets back from her anniversary vacation I'll find out for sure.

      We travel to various CT nurseries and out of state (RI, NH, VT) for the unusual Coleus. Yes, we're nuts.

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    2. Here it is...Jasminum officinale 'Fiona Sunrise'. Fully hardy in zone 6.

      http://www.louistheplantgeek.com/a-gardening-journal/655-jasminum-officinale-fiona-sunrise

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  4. You have a tropical paradise there. They are so colorful and such interesting foliage. I was glad to see your 'Under the Sea Bonefish' coleus as
    a mature plant. The little 'Bonefish' I ordered from a plant catalog in the spring went bellyup. I was really sorry to lose it. I will look forward to seeing your flower photos, too!

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    1. I am so impressed with all the "Under the Sea" Coleus varieties I bought this year. Even though I don't have much luck overwintering Coleus I'm tempted to take a few cuttings just in case I can't find them again next spring. Bloom Day is coming...hopefully soon.

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  5. You certainly had a lot to offer for foliage follow-up! I love all the varieties of coleus - I haven't found the same range offered here. I was gratified to find 'Fishnet Stockings' this year but it turned entirely purple in my garden. Too much sun or too little? - I'm not sure why that happened. I'm still looking for your Pennisetum 'Vertigo'.

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    1. In previous years I don't remember Fishnet Stockings being so purple. When I bought it, I chose one that seemed to have more purple veining than the others. This one gets quite a bit of sun but nothing in my garden gets the classic definition of full sun.

      I'm surprised you can't find Vertigo. It's an annual here but still fairly easy to find in the spring.

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  6. Lovely shots! I'd be completely lost trying to get a garden organized...

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  7. Clearly I need to brush up on my foliage plants, because there were so many plants here I'd never even heard of. I hope you don't mind, but I plan to copy your foliage-in-containers idea for my garden. It's fabulous, and just what the garden needs this time of year. Your dog eats plants? Mine is strictly a garbage-grazer.

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    1. Most of the container plants are not hardy here. They require extra work but I think it's worth it for the extended garden season I get in return.

      As a rule, Nick doesn't eat plants-usually his restricts his grazing to anything fecal (yuck I know), but the Castor Beans throw seeds and I just don't want to take any chances. A couple of months ago he spent a night at the ER vet because of something he ate. I suspect it might have been a pit from the ornamental peach tree on the patio.

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  8. I added a Cool splash to my garden this fall and I love it! I really love how you use so many annuals. I need to learn from you! I love the caladium/coleus combo. Might have to steal that one! :o)

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    1. Dievilla 'Cool Splash' is such a great foliage accent. For some gardeners I know it hasn't been particularly vigorous. Annuals really boost the late season garden interest. Every year I say I'm going to scale back. Maybe next year.

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  9. This spring i wondered why you were rushing about in search of so many annuals...and now i know the reason!

    Love the mystery "annual" vine against the dark background.

    Away I go. Thunder in the background!

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    1. The mystery vine has been identified as Jasmine officinale 'Fiona Sunrise'.

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  10. I always measure my colocasias against yours, against which mine are dwarfed. Sanchezia looks very intriguing. I was going to help with the jasmine ID but see it's been sorted out. I need to get over to FB and wish M&L a happy 25th.

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  11. You are magic with annuals. I wonder if your Acalypha might be "Jungle Cloak". I have your mystery vine planted in the ground going up the steps, but mine is Jasminum officinale 'Aureum'. It does not have the orange new growth of 'Fiona Sunrise'. Each year I plant burgundy or red coleus (my fav is 'Big Red Judy') in pots beside the jasemine so their colors can mingle.

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