While I love the sweet flowers of Cyclamen, the foliage that follows and persists until early summer is the feature that I love most. Requiring little light and no water all summer, these fill in really nicely around perennials that will shade them in the summer and are gone in the winter.
There are some with beautiful silver foliage and others with lovely patterns of green and silver.
Euphorbia wulfenii enjoying the rain.
Meanwhile, in the greenhouse, the big prickly leaves belong to agave Wercklea ferox which has grown very quickly from the four inch pot that came from Logee's early this summer. We'll see how it fares in the greenhouse this winter.
Lastly, an homage to Moby, the Agave ovatifolia that grows in the garden of Pam Penick, the host of Foliage Follow-Up. My A .ovatifolia, planted three years ago as an experiment (one gallon pot,) has survived our wet winters and put on more growth each year. Now, what will I do with that Yucca 'Bright Star' when the agave gets bigger? Thanks, Pam, for hosting this meme to remind us of the important role that foliage plays in our gardens every day of the year. Check out Pam's blog, Digging, here to see other FFU posts!
Your little Moby is impressive. I planted an Agave ovatifolia in the gravel garden, but it didn't survive its first winter, it turned to mush. That Yucca 'Bright Star' looks great too, no sign of Yuccacne.
ReplyDeleteI love that little Moby and hope that it continues to be happy. In colder, wetter winters it has had a bit of die back of outer leaves. This hot summer really made it happy! The Yucca looks good now but in the winter, not so much. I'm wondering if they loose the Yuccacne as they get older and further away from the soil surface.
DeleteNice Agave, Peter. I have been wanting one of those for a while, glad to see yours has been hardy. Great pics as usual!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tamara. You'll have space for several in your new digs!
DeleteYou are right - I really do need to supplement my Cyclamen collection. As for the Agaves - they always fill me with lust, but there is only so much room in the sunny part of the parking strip. Just about everywhere is too shady. Not that it keeps me from trying...
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I have a slope in the baking sun that is perfect for agaves. Unfortunately, I can't plant much there as it's where they have to walk to erect scaffolding every few years when we have to paint the house. Oh for a nice rambler with a metal roof and siding that would need no such work... One can never have too many cyclamen, right?
DeleteNow that's what I'm talking about! You do Cyclamen so well.
ReplyDeleteAnd so could you.
DeleteYour cyclamen are so wonderful. I've taken the slow route with mine, allowing seedlings to grow instead of adding more mature plants. I really need to pot up some of those seedlings to push them a bit faster and save them from the slugs.
ReplyDeleteThe white-flowering ones seem to spread much more rapidly than the pinks for some reason. They are such sweet little things!
DeleteI still just think of cyclamen as houseplants for some reason, even though they should be cold-hardy enough for me here. Maybe I should give them a try? That foliage is great!
ReplyDeletePerhaps because we see so many florist's cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum) in the shops at this time of the year through winter. They're less hardy but do make nice indoor plants.
DeleteThe light in that euphorbia pic is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThanks, R.D. It was a lovely day.
DeleteI love those cyclamen but I wish they were hardier. I'd love to stick them out in the garden since I don't have a greenhouse. :o)
ReplyDeleteThese are hardy varieties (some as low as zone 4-5) so they should work for you. Here's an article about the various hardy varieties: http://www.hardycyclamens.com/cyclamen-hardy-species.html
DeleteTom loves his cyclamen collection for the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteThey're pretty special and I totally understand why Tom loves them.
DeleteSuper foliage shots! Cyclamen leaves are all so beautiful and no two ever the same, I can spend ages looking at them and they make super ground cover.
ReplyDeleteThey're a fun winter presence in the garden and looking at them is great winter sport! They are also tough enough to grow up through summer ground covers.
DeleteGorgeous photos! Now I am going to have to check into cold-hardy cylamens for this old cold garden of mine.
ReplyDeleteThe foliage lasts through the winter here but there would probably be covered with a nice protective layer of snow. Still, the autumn thrill would make them worth it!
DeleteI planted a whale's tongue agave about 3 years ago too and am only now beginning to realize just how big it may get...
ReplyDeletePam's is huge! Yours will probably attain a much greater size than mine ever will in our cool wet climate.
DeleteI love the foliage of cyclamen, each one is a little different. As for that Agave, it is superb. Is Moby his nickname or is it really called that?
ReplyDeleteMoby is the nickname of Pam's Agave ovatifolia. I've not named any of my plants; it's all I can do to try and remember their real names. Although Billy-Bob Brugmansia or Chloris Chamaecyparis do have a ring to them.
DeleteAh, those little Whale's Tongues grow up so fast, don't they?
ReplyDeleteI planted a WT for my neighbor, and last year her daughter planted a Yucca recurvifolia right on top of it. Well, not literally, but way too close. That'll be trouble one day. ;)