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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.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Foliage Follow-Up May 2015 Better Late Than Never

Sorry to be late with my Foliage Follow-Up post but the garden and garden field trips have been calling!  On the day after Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, Pam at Digging sponsors Foliage Follow-Up to remind us of the importance of foliage in the garden every day of the year!  Here is some foliage in my garden that's been doing some interesting things.

Found at Lowe's on a late night run for some stuff for the pond, Heuchera 'Midnight Rose' is described thus on the Monrovia tag, "Fabulous burnished black leaves are splashed with hot pink in the spring, transitioning in summer to cream and pink." Who could resist?

Schefflera delavayi stretching out it's hands to catch unwary passers by.

This year's coleus (colei?)

plectranthus scutellarioides!



Echeveria hybrid from Rare Plant Research.  More on that in another post. 


Podophyllum delavayi

One of the large leaved rhododendrons with new growth emerging.  The Rhododendron Society says that putting coffee grounds about 2 inches deep on the ground around your plants that attract weevils will keep them from damaging your plants as they don't like to walk on coffee grounds for some reason.  I've tried it on several plants and it seems to be working.  Of course, I did spray beneficial nematodes on the soil several times a year for the last two or three  but the plants without coffee grounds still have damage.  This takes a lot of grounds and has to be done each year as the grounds decompose but it's free and organic so hooray!  If you're not a coffee drinker or if you have a lot of space to cover, Starbucks will save and bag it's used grounds to give away.  You may wish to call first  to make sure.

Azara microphylla variegata with Hydrangea aspera 'Plum Passion' and some other stuff. 

The pond up and running before fish.  I've re-strung the electric fence with wire instead of the white string stuff and like the wire much better as it blends with the background much better than what's in this picture. The area in front has also now been weeded so imagine it looking much better than this. 

Tom giving the Dr. Seuss tree a haircut.  Lots of foliage.

After the haircut.

Happy Monday and please forgive my tardiness!  


18 comments:

  1. So much to love, as always, but I think my favorite photo is Tom at work sculpting.

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    1. I adore work and could watch someone else do it for hours. Tom has been mowing and trimming for me for the last couple of seasons. Hooray!

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  2. Oh, Peter, you post so often you need not apologies for a day's delay.
    Coleus has astonishing colors (I have yet to successfully grow any). It takes a strong plant like your Echeveria to follow that performance! It looks like it will flower soon.
    Glad to see the pond is back in action. What are the chartreuse-tinged-with-orange leafs on the left? Maybe the pond needs it's own detailed post?

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    1. The orange tinged chartreuse leaves belong to Acer shirasawanum ‘Autumn Moon’. I like the idea of the pond getting its own post. Maybe we could get ideas for fish names.

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  3. Your Dr Seuss tree is such an eye-catching accent with all the surrounding foliage. Hydrangeas can be somewhat boring, but not 'Plum Passion'.

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    1. That spot needs some sort of focal point for sure!

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  4. I'm with Danger in liking that photo of one of the gardeners in action. Great long shots, and I'm enjoying all the va-va-voom richness of your leafy reds, oranges, and yellows.

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    1. Japanese Maples can really jazz up a color scheme. Tom still doesn't really like gardening but doesn't so much mind mowing and trimming which he's started to take over to give me more time to plant, weed, etc.

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  5. You've got a great foliage collection. I love that Azara-Hydrangea combination. I'd forgotten about the coleus reclassification - how can one ever keep up with these name changes? I may give up on Latin entirely and start assigning my own names to plants - that first coleus would be "Rosy" and the orange one maybe "George."

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    1. I am fond of foliage! Your idea of giving up Latin and assigning your own names is a great idea!

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  6. The photo of Tom in his blue shirt and hat, with the blue bottles in 1 corner, and the red & yellow foliage with a yellow ladder is simply fabulous!

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    1. Blue is such a difficult color to have in the garden - Bottles and attire help.

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  7. I bought the same heuchera! Actually, I bought 8. I could not resist them. A pith helmet and a vest well appointed with supplies looks to be required to traverse the lushness of your garden.

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    1. Great minds and all... It's a gorgeous thing! A machete is helpful when visiting my garden!

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  8. Your jungle is looking lush and lovely.

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  9. Like those orange and red coleus! Plus - a stylish haircut!

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  10. Your garden is looking so fresh and luscious! Love your cloud pruned tree, a real focal point in your garden. You certainly have a wonderful selection of foliage, I really like the photo of your Azara and Azalea.

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  11. I am enamoured with variegated and red foliage, so I love all your colei, Midnight Rose, and the white variegated plant on the right with your Dr. Seuss cute evergreen. Azara just dwindled away here, too cold but yours looks great. Your pond looks great, so colorful and lush. Weeds? What weeds? I've got annual grasses going to seed everywhere that I'm battling.

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