It's time for the changing of the guard. The hosta foliage to the left will soon fade to nothing and the Arum italicum foliage will take center stage staying green, fresh and almost tropical looking all winter.
I love the variety of different leaf patterns available and have tried to get several different varieties of A. italicum.
Soon the soil and all of the debris will be hidden by lush foliage. Why bother cleaning it up? I'm way too lazy!
So far my rhodocoma capensis is lookin happy! Let's hope we have a mild winter and it's in a sheltered enough spot!
Still some lovely autumn foliage persists. This is kind of a neat trick, maybe we'll just have fall until spring!
You may remember my posts about Chief Joseph lodgepole pine
here The one that my sister and niece got me in September is beginning to go through its seasonal change from deep green to bright gold. Very exciting! Isn't Joey handsome?
I'm also way in love with Berberis 'Orange Rocket.' It has beautiful and bright orange foliage all summer (some people say that their orange fades a little to greenish in late summer but not mine) and has been putting on this fireworks show for at least six weeks now.
Foliage follow up is sponsored by the wonderful Pam Penick at
Digging Be sure to click on her link to see fabulous and festive foliage from far and near!
Joey is handsome :) Arums are great for looking so lush and exotic at this time of the year, we find them invaluable in the garden!
ReplyDeleteJoey is blushing; it's not every day that someone flirts with him:) Arums have been wonderful for me as I love huge hostas but they leave equally large blank spots all winter. Add some Arums and maybe some daffodil bulbs and voila no mor big empty spots.
DeleteWow if I didn't clean up my mushy Hosta foliage the slug population would explode. They LOVE it. Have you no slugs in Tacoma?
ReplyDeleteThe coloration on your Berberis is fabulous!
I've sent all of Tacoma's slugs to Portland. I put out lots of sluggo in the fall since learning that the buggers like to breed in the autumn.
DeleteBerberis 'Orange Rocket' was introduced last year I think and it has great orange foliage. Orange is someone's favorite color - who could that be? It's got thorns, too.
ohhh la la! the arum is so lush and tropical! I love it. and your rhodocoma capensis is really cool. I hope for mild warmth. Though it be very chilly, we are doing pretty good. The early cold is often the worst on tender plants.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing quite like those restios! The voice that talks to me on my commute was saying something about snow mixed with rain tonight and maybe Wednesday as well with possible accumulations north of King County. I don't know if that voice should be trusted.
DeleteYuck! There was snow on the mountains around here today. Lots of cars came down covered in snow.
DeleteI can tell you love your plants! And yes, there are many things to admire in your garden. I am curious what type of soil is where your Arum i. grows? I have one plant, it looks good, but doesn't spread much.
ReplyDeleteI have some in root infested deep shade (deciduous trees,) some in hard clay and some in fairly good soil (where a compost heap used to be.) They seem to take a while to establish themselves but after they do, they spread fairly well and come up in odd places. I don't know if birds have planted seeds or some roots have come along when transplanting other plants.
DeleteI do find Chief Joseph to be a most handsome specimen indeed, and I love that you have the pot positioned near what looks to be Melianthus? They would make delightful bed/border fellows!
ReplyDeleteI too love Berberis, but find the more exciting ones hard to come by here in Canada. Many have been banned because of the blight that they supposedly carry to certain grain crops.
I have never grown Arums of any kind, but think I might have to add them to the list for next year. I grow Asarum splendens and love it, so must search out a few!
I wonder how arums would do for you as they send their leaves up when you have snow cover. The leaves die back in summer when the spathe and spadix flowers bloom and the cool red pokers of seeds are a welcome autumn sight and look way cool coming out of black mondo grass. I bet they'd adapt in some way though.
DeleteWhat a treat to have one plant cover up the debris of another, sounds great to me! The colours of your Orange Rocket are magnificent.
ReplyDeleteOne plant covering the remains of another is my idea of lazy organic gardening. Orange Rocket is pretty cool if you like such brazen displays. I love screaming bright foliage!
DeleteYou still have lots of beautiful foliage. I had no idea that Arum foliage was so hardy. Not a big Berberis fan but I have to admit that color is incredibly gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteA long growing/frost-free season is one of the special benefits of living in the soggy northwest! Don't tell anyone but it's pretty great living here.
DeleteOMG...the Berberis is almost too much...love it! Every time I see one in our neighborhood, I'm filled with total envy.
ReplyDeleteDo you still have that blank spot by your front porch? This berberis is fairly columnar... (Yes I know that Loree thinks that a loquat belongs there.)
DeleteI love that orange Berberis! Does it really still have leaves? My 'Helmond Pillar' is completely bare. I love Arums too, at this time of year. I have a couple, doing well, starting to spread just a little.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, red rocket does still have leaves. Every other berberis in my garden is totally naked but this one has held it's leaves longer. Truthfully, I haven't looked in the last couple of days due to the torrential downpour and strong winds yesterday but on Saturday, it still looked like the picture.
DeleteI was just noticing that not only are the Sweet Gum trees in my yard still full of leaves, all over town they are. Several other plants have leaves too. It's so late in the year for such things but I'm not complaining.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos. I need to get me some Arum. Love that foliage. Do you have any Cyclamen hederafolium? The foliage looks great too right now.
Cheers.
Sweet gums usually hold on to their foliage pretty late but this year has been exceptional for long lasting fall color!
DeleteI do have and love Cyclamen hederafolium but it was in my foliage follow-up last month so didn't show it again.
Arums....must have Arums. Your sister and niece are brilliant shoppers!
ReplyDeleteSome people complain about arums spreading all over the place and being hard to control. They may have a point as I've transplanted some to other spots and they seem to keep coming up in the spots from which they were taken. I don't so much mind as I love them. The sister and niece were very sweet to notice my blog entry about Chief Joseph, call the nursery, and have one waiting for me.
DeleteSo many different kinds of foliage. Many forms and colours. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mickey's Mom!
DeleteNice foliage pictures! I want to plant a few things for autumn color.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda! There are so many plants that have wonderful autumn color; you'll have fun finding the ones that work for you!
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