I was cruising
through a catalog this morning, enjoying all the flowers images inside its covers. Stunning photos of remarkable
blossoms help nurseries sell their wares; however, what I want to see is foliage. I love foliage. It’s the reason I am keen on banana plants,
cannas, and variegated foliage. Almost any
leaf that is bumpy or lumpy, brightly hued or unusual receives my attention. Some leaves look like an impressionist painter
created the artistic patterns and textures; other leaves such as the porcupine tomato
(Solanum pyracanthum), look like
Picasso had a bit of fun with it.
Foliage is
the mainstay in the garden and without it, my little oasis would seem like a
desert. Don’t get me wrong; I love
flowers just as much as the next woman does.
While blossoms take center stage, the leaves set the stage. Too many
flowers in the garden is too syrupy for these eyes, I need a place to rest them
in between the eye candy. That’s where beautiful
foliage creates balance and harmony, and a place to relax the eyes.
I’ve toured a
few gardens where variegation has taken over. Ouch, my eyes! Too many plants with variegated foliage, leaves
me feeling slightly nauseous, like just before a huge migraine headache strikes. I remember one home where acuba plants grew everywhere.
They were foundation plants for the home as well as used as hedging for one
side of their yard. Whoever planted them;
either received an excellent deal on them from a nursery, or really liked these
plants to the point of obsession. Their bright gold and green foliage screamed
at me whenever I walked down their long driveway. Even now, I dislike this shrub even though I’ve
seen single specimens used as understory plants in a shaded garden with toned
down splashes of yellow on its leaves. It
immediately reminds me of the gaudiness of my first encounter with the plant.
Good Garden Design Includes Foliage
Foliage is an
integral part of garden design. Gardeners, who design garden masterpieces, use
foliage extensively in their artistry. With all the diversity of size, color, and form
in leaves, a creative gardener can give rise to combinations of plants that
make any onlooker appreciate the garden canvas in front of them.
One of my
favorite books, Consider the Leaf by Judy Glattstein, goes into much detail
about using foliage in garden design.
Her fabulous foliage combinations are enough to make any flower gardener
turn strictly to leaf gardening.
Click on images to view larger.
Top photo: Ilex 'Golden Milkboy' photographed in Wendy Tweten's garden.
Middle: Solanum pyracanthum photographed in Debbie Teashon's garden.
Bottom: Hosta 'War Paint' photographed in David Fishman's garden.


people I didn’t know, such as when a person handed me a dollar bill when I was short on cash at a checkout line. Some kindness came from people I knew; for instance, when a friend brought me a box of groceries when I was in college after a string of bad luck left me short on cash. These actions always brought back my faith in our species,
that we aren’t just war-mongering, greedy or selfish people, but caring and kind human beings. This was years before the movie “Pay It Forward” debuted. I particularly remember a discussion with a bunch of gardeners after seeing that movie. One person talked about buying a bunch of flower bulbs and planting them in her neighbor’s garden. She never took credit as the perpetrator of the unexpected gift, but she did remark how fun it was to give anonymously.
