I didn’t do a foliage follow up post last month as I was bored with posting about the same plants all winter – even I couldn’t face another photo of Melianthus major but with the warm weather and spring well and truly upon us there are new leaves appearing even more than the new flowers. I love the freshness of the new leaves something which you get at no other time of the year especially when the late afternoon sun dips down and back lights the leaves. I have a few hostas but they are a plant I want to increase in the garden. The hosta above I have had since my first garden some 20 years ago. I have no idea what variety it is and it has been divided over and over again. This plant is residing under the Prunus kojo-no-mai; I have been dividing it and spread it to create a cushion of hosta under the shrub. It isn’t quite there yet but I think it will look lovely when it is. And yes there are some of the dreaded sycamore seedlings which I have missed.
An example of what I mean about the back lighting of foliage. Here is a run of the mill dogwood which came from my mother’s last garden. The young variegated leaves look wonderfully fresh but late in the day they positively glow and provide a nice contrast to the other green foliage around them.
Acer is another plant that has wonderful fresh foliage as well as good Autumn color. I love both ends of the year but at this time of year the leaves look so fragile and feathery.
Then we have the wonderful glossy leaves of Cardiocrinum giganteum which look almost like plastic and very unreal. I grew this plant last year but I really don’t remember the leaves being so shiny and yes there is another sycamore seedling – tsk!
Leptospernum myrtifolium was added to the woodland border last Autumn to provide a nice light contrast to the large Fatsia and Rhododendrons which are in the border. It is still a very young plant and is difficult to spot from a distance but I think it will be a good addition in time.
Berberis seiboldiwas purchased and added to the border at the same time. The leaves mature to a reddish-purple but I hadn’t realised that they opened with such a light green hue – like little torches in the border. I think that once the shrub bulks up it will really glow in the spring border.
So here are my Spring foliage highlights, for more foliage delights pop over to Pam at Digging.
