Highlighting Foliage

Sometimes the foliage on a plant is so beautiful or unusual that it doesn't matter if there is a blossom. For those of you who enjoy gardening, here are photographs I've taken recently of some favorites of mine. I'll try not to go on too long, this is a subject I find endlessly fascinating; I'll make this a series like Fay's wonderful Friedman posts. As always, click on the image for full size. Here is Acer campestre "Carnival" which is planted next to Sambucus nigra "Black Lace".

Acer palmatum 'Fairy Hair' & A. p. 'Veitchii' (variegated) to the right.

Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa'

A. p. 'Tsuma gaki' and closeup.

A. shirasawanum 'Aureum' buds emerging at the end of April.

One month later...

Ajuga incisa 'Frosted Jade', a new cultivar with jagged foliage most un-ajuga-like!

Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver mound'. Aptly named I have several of these encircling the dark foliage of Aster 'Prince'. The foliage is very soft and pillowy.

Not many rhododendrons have variegated foliage (and they tend to revert); here is Blattgold.

Cornus alba 'Gouchaltii' and closeup.

A. pseudoplatanus 'Esk Sunset' foliage and the plant backlit by the early evening sun.

Golden smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria 'Golden Shadow') underplanted with Clematis recta 'Serious Black'.

This is Crambe cordifolia. Looks kind of like rhubarb, doesn't it? It is actually in the cabbage family. The leaves get much larger and by summer send up a 4' cloud of tiny white, sweet-scented panicles of flowers on wiry stems. I don't have a photo of mine blooming but I'll put a link in to a web photo if you'd like to see what makes this plant so special.

Crambe in bloom. Here is Darmera Peltata, aka Umbrella Plant (which is why I waited until the morning after some rain to take the picture)

Dexter's Vanilla new growth.

Disporum cantoniense 'Night Heron', a favorite woodland plant.

I'll stop at the D's :-)