Great Foliage Plants

When I first started gardening I had no appreciation for foliage.  A flowerbed was for flowers.  Right?  Well I quickly found out that this was wrong thinking.   To have a good looking flowerbed I needed good looking foliage.   Now when selecting a plant I consider the following ‘foliage’ criteria:
1.   Is the plant a magnet for disease and insects?  I try not to include these in my garden.
2.   Does it need staking?   This makes a plant less desirable.
3.  Does it add colour, texture or some kind of ornamentation to my garden?  YES – I like
Plant breeders and growers know that discerning perennial gardeners want – no NEED – good looking foliage plants.  Consequently there are now a huge number of outstanding foliage plants available.  Let’s have a look at some of the  best.

Foliage Plants for Shade
A successful shade garden is built on interesting foliage colour, texture and form.  Following are a number of perennials that will light-up your dark, shade garden and add lots of drama.

Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’   In my humble opinion this is one of the best perennials introduced in recent years.  It is a spectacular, low-growing, mound-forming ornamental. It’s light green heart-shaped foliage is overlaid with a silver frosting which is thinly veined to create a porcelain effect.  It produces sprays of blue, forget-me-not blooms in the spring, which is nice, but it is the foliage that makes this such a beautiful plant.

Fallopia japonica ‘Variegata’  is a tall (3-5’) vase-shaped plant with green, heart-shaped leaves splashed with irregular splotches of creamy-white.  It produces sprays of white flowers in August, but again I grow it for its lovely variegated foliage and striking form.

Cimicifuga  Many plants in this group – also known as Bugbane –  have dark, lacy, foliage.  ‘Black Negligee’ may be the darkest of all.  It is a large, elegant plant growing 4-5’ tall with dark, purple-black, ferny leaves.  The plant bears long, arching, fragrant, white flower spikes in late summer.

Heuchera and Heucherella offer the gardener an enormous selection of colourful foliage plants.  One of my favourites and likely the darkest leafed variety currently available is Heuchera ‘Obsidian’.  It makes a terrific companion for many other plants.  Try it with a golden leafed perennial like Heucherella ‘Sunspot’ or the fabulous Spiderwort Tradescantia ‘Sweet Kate’.

Once you set your sights on colourful foliage you will discover an entire new world of plants.  However don’t completely ignore green-leafed perennials.  There are many available with outstanding ornamental characteristics. 

Ligularia  Now here is a group of  bold perennials with big,  spectacular foliage.  ‘The Rocket’ has deeply toothed, heart-shaped foliage while ‘Desdemona’ has huge purple-green, round leaved.  Want positively enormous leaves?  Try ‘Zepter’ or ‘Greynog Gold’.

Foliage Plants for Sun
I love foliage that has texture.  Fat, juicy leaves.  Corrugations.  Deep veins.  Thick substance.  Tough, drought proof  Sedum offer many of these characteristics and there are dozens to choose from.  There are tiny, wee, ground-hugging varieties like Sedum ‘Baby Tears’ to taller border plants with delicious dark foliage colour like Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’.  Low growing Sedum make excellent groundcovers or edging. Taller varieties are a great companion for virtually any perennial or ornamental grass.

I find that silver foliaged plants are an indispensable element in the sunny garden. They break-up the monotony of green foliage and also help to enhance pastels and cool down hot colour combination.   

 
I am particularly fond of Lamb’s Ear – Stachys lanata – with is wooly, silver-white foliage.  It’s great for edging the border or used as accent in the rock garden.  If you don’t like the flower try the newer introduction Stachys ‘Big Ears’ which seldom blooms.

The Silver Mound is likely the most popular silver foliaged plants.  Artemisia schmidtiana ‘Nana’ forms a perfectly round mound of soft, silky, feather-like foliage.  Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ also has silver, filigree foliage but it has a more upright, bushy form creating a beautiful soft mist of silver.  A great border accent!

Sea Hollies -- Eryngium – are among some the of most exotic perennials characterized by prickly flower heads and deeply sculptured leaves.   Eryngium ‘Miss Wilmot’s Ghost’ is perhaps the strangest of the bunch.  This upright, multi-branched plant has large thistle-like cones surrounded by a large spiky collar.  The entire plant has a ghostly luminescence.   Or try the metallic blue Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’.  The plant starts out silver however as the season progresses a vivid, silver blue sheen creeps over the entire plant until it positively glows. 

If this is too much for your sensibilities there is the more subdued grey-green foliage of Nepeta or Catmints.  This is really an underused group of plants.  There are several excellent ornamentals in this group – ‘Walker’s Low’, Six Hills Giant’, ‘Dawn to Dusk’.  All have soft, pebbly aromatic grey foliage set with masses of blooms virtually all summer.  And drought tolerant too!

There are a huge number of variegated plants now available.  However I use these sparingly and carefully.  A little bit of variegation will go a long way.

The Jacob’s Ladder  Polemonium ‘Brise d’Anjou’ was one of the most popular variegated plants in recent years.  It forms a large mound of emerald green and yellow, lacy foliage.  ‘Brise d’Anjou’ is quite lovely but it is important to keep it out of the afternoon sun.  A newer, more durable variation is Polemonium ‘Snow & Sapphires’.  This form has dark green, lacy foliage which is outlined by a crisp, white border and sky blue flowers in the spring.  Very lovely!

I like variegation that is subdued rather than garish and bold.  Plants with blue-green leaves splashed with white or cream are easy to incorporate into the border.  Phlox paniculata ‘Norah Leigh’ and Physostegia ‘Variegata’ are lovely accents.  ‘Norah’ is a tall, mid-summer phlox with soft, lavender pink blooms.  The Physostegia has brilliant magenta pink flower spikes in the fall.

For the front of the border, in my rock garden and in containers I like to use Calamintha grandiflora ‘Variegata’.  This charming gem has aromatic, dark green foliage irregularly accented with creamy white and bits of yellow and pink.  It produces masses of deep pink blooms all summer.  The hummingbirds just love it.

It’s always fun to discover a great foliage plant – whether its old or just newly developed.  An old-fashioned variety that I use throughout the garden is Lady’s Mantle – Alchemilla mollis.   This is a mounding perennial about 18” tall with rounded, felty green foliage.  It always has an excellent form but it really shines after a rain when every droplet of water on it’s leaves forms a bead-like jewel.  This durable plant can be grown in almost any garden situation.  There is also a dwarf version Alchemilla alpine which is perfect for the rock or scree garden or even in a container.
Another plant with rounded foliage, is the little known Darmera peltata.  This relative unknown has huge leaves up to 2’ across – sort of like a smaller version of Gunnera but much hardier.  It will form a massive clump over time growing up 36” tall.  It is also commonly called the Umbrella Plant – a very fitting name.

This article is just to whet your appetite or heighten your observations for desirable foliage.  Have fun finding your own special foliage beauties.

   

   
Gardening Tip
The best way to control insects and diseases in the garden is not to have a problem in the first place.  At Canning Perennials our main approach is preventative and rarely do we have to go on the offence.    This is our approach:
 Water properly.  Water deeply and less frequently.  Frequent shallow watering provides inadequate moisture for plant and at the same time creates a humid atmosphere around the crown and foliage which invites all kinds of insects and fungal diseases.  (More on watering in future issues.)
Mulch your garden with organic matter.  This protects the soil, conserves moisture and prevents the germination of weed seeds. 
Keep a clean garden.  Deadhead regularly.  Weed.  Clean up dead and rotting debris.
Encourage small birds, frogs, toads, snakes and spiders.  These creatures along with many beneficial bugs will control unwanted bug populations.  Did you know that the wasp is a beneficial insect?
Learn who your friends are and who are the enemies.
Don’t use pesticides.  Pesticides destroy the natural ecology of your garden and all your little garden helpers.

   
Feature Plant - Salvia
In 1997 Salvia ‘May Night’ was voted the Perennial Plant of the year.  And don’t get me wrong – this is a great perennial, however since then a larger number of even nicer varieties have been brought to market.
In general, Salvia are an invaluable group of plants for the sunny garden.  They are characterized by:
-    highly ornamental flower spikes for a good part of the summer
-    aromatic foliage
-    drought tolerant
-    adaptable to most soils
-    loved by hummingbirds and butterflies
-    good cut flower
-    shunned by rabbits and deer
-    very easily grown
As I mentioned many new varieties have been introduced in the last 10 years.  I have three favourites with a great upright form and bloom virtually all summer.  Just cut them back if they slow down.
Salvia ‘Caradonna’  What a beauty this is!  Almost black stalks bearing deep purple flowers. (18”)
Salvia ‘Royal Distinction’  Produces deep crimson pink flower spikes.  Last year mine bloomed from early June until October!  (16-18”)
Salvia ‘Pink Delight’  A taller variety with deep pink blooms.
Please see our Catalogue for images and more information.


Great Combinations
Euphorbia polychroma also known as Cushion Spurge forms a perfect mound of pale green foliage that bursts into chartreuse in mid-spring.  It is so brilliant that it seems to be lit-up by some internal light source.  (No kidding!)  For an eye-catching display combine Cushion Spurge with:
Ajuga ‘Chocolate Chip’ – It is smothered by short vivid blue spikes around the same time.
Add a taller dark foliage plant like Rodgersia  for contrast.
For still more spring colour add a clutch or two of primroses.