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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

April 2013 Foliage Follow-Up


Foliage Follow-Up is hosted monthly by the fabulous Pam Penick.  Be sure to click on over to her blog, Digging, to be deep in the green!  (Sorry if some of  y'all are still under a blanket of white!)

April is a magical time in the PNW; soggy but magical, when our plants seem to be changing by the hour.  Some foliage that caught my eye recently:

Rhododendron somethingorother putting out new leaves.
 
Berberis 'Orange Rocket'  With foliage like this, who needs blooms? 
 
 
 The acer palmatums are beginning their show.  This one is 'Alpenweiss.'

What happens when you shock your tender sedums by putting them outside in the cold after spending the winter in a very warm spot?  They blush!  (Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora')

Maybe they're turning red with cold.   Either way, it sure makes them purdy.
 Foliage spilling from everywhere.  The cordyline that spent only a few weeks inside this winter is back in it's spot in the garden. 
 The Arum italicum are still looking gorgeous!  I love this winter/spring foliage!

This one is a favoirte variety & is so colorful that it reminds me of a caladium.
 
 Impatiens omeiana silver pink is beautiful.  The flowers come in the fall and are o.k.

Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty'

Persicaria 'Red Dragon'  in a sea of  Oxalis oregana.


Confession of a tacky gardener # 542.  That table is now covered with plant purchases from recent field trips.  So is the potting bench by the garage and any a few other flat spaces here and there.   Here are some of the plants moved out of the basement or glass room and sitting around outside waiting to find homes for the summer.

No garden is complete without a bag of potting soil waiting around to help with repotting, right? 
Pieris japonica's new growth is like a second flowering!

Almost foliage on Poncirus trifoliata 'Flying Dragon'

Are these little alien hands or baby birds?  Emerging foliage of Schefflera taiwaniana
 
 
 Rheum palmatum 'Atrosanguineum'

24 comments:

  1. Very very nice selection of foliage (and photography!). Soggy but magical, I like that term, which reminds me of Cornwall!

    Is that a Sonchus canariensis beside the table? Special mention to the Berberis and Poncirus, quite unusual foliage those two.

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    1. Thanks guys! The foliage is really showing off this time of the year. Wouldn't it be nice if the gardener cleaned the leaves from last year. Oh well, the new growth will cover them eventually.

      It is a Sonchus canariensis beside the table brought out of the glass room in hopes that the wet cool weather would help get rid of the pesky mites that seem attracted to this plant. Berberis 'Orange Rocket' is my favorite new(ish) plant introduction. I've had them for at least a couple of years & the foliage is a visual delight from earliest spring until the last of the leaves fall in late December!

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  2. I really enjoyed all the different colors of your foliage follow-up. I know I take our dark foliage for granted, Pam herself keeps reminding me the PNW is lucky that way.

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    1. We are very lucky to have such a variety of foliage colors available to us in the PNW; it's a great place to garden!

      If they can breed lilacs that will bloom in warm winter areas, don't you think that they should be able to come up with giant agaves that like wet winters?

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  3. Gorgeous! That Arum leaf looks like a watercolor painting. Still jealous of your Rheum, and now that you've seen mine you know why!

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    1. I got that arum a few years ago when I ordered from some specialty bulb place that had several varieties of them, including the one you posted about a while back that has the black splotches. I love them all but the water-color one has especially large leaves and looks like something from the tropics all winter!

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  4. That photo of 'Spotty Dotty'...I'm in love! Tho I have seen it in real life and not been tempted.

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    1. Podophyllums will steal your heart every time! This one sometimes seeds around and leaf patterns seem quite variable on the offspring.

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  5. Wow! So much color in you garden already! Do you restrict your oxalis in any way? Mine is spreading, and I am not sure what to do. Will it suffocate other plants?

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    1. Unfortunately, I haven't restricted my oxalis. It grows well in dry shade and looks so vibrant and delicate. It will take over smaller plants that may die after a time for lack of sunlight but larger plants seem to do fine. What I end up doing is pulling it out around plants that I want to keep. It will continue to come back if you don't dig the rhizomes.

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    2. Thank you! I started pulling it... but, I suspect that it will win! I got it from one of the NPA open gardens, and the owner planted it smart - around the big tree where nothing else grew. I planted it near other plants, and it wasn't smart...

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  6. Nice! Love the Pieris japonica!

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  7. That sedum interests me. What is it's name anyway. You have set of plants that I don't see anywhere else.

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  8. EPIC!! I love the colour on your berberis. Of course that cordyline is an all time fav of mine. And you are right about the schefflera growth! its other worldly in the most wonderful way.

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    1. Thanks for the hardiness info about the cordyline; it made it much nicer to only haul the cordys inside when the weather was going to be below 25! The plants seemed to enjoy being outside much more than spending the whole winter inside!

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  9. It looks like your Rheum palmatum is off to a stellar start. So far mine is MIA. Flowers are nice but it's really all about the foliage.

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    1. RIP Idyll Rheum palmtum! As for mine, things always look rosy in the beginnig. You're right, it's all about the foliage!

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  10. Such a large selection of different foliage! Beautiful! There are even so many colors. Aurora looks nice!

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    1. We sometimes take for granted all the different colors of foliage we have in this part of the world. Thank you for reminding us of how lucky we are!

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  11. Love your foliage! I love all the reds that come out in spring. I really need to add more barberries to my garden. Love that Orange Rocket! And your peris is fabulous, too!

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    1. Thanks! Spring is a wonderful time for foliage! You can't go wrong with 'Orage Rocket!' So many barberries are great!

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  12. Magical and purdy indeed! I esp. like that Berberis 'Orange Rocket' and rosy sedum. Happy spring!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.