Whew, this time of year is sheer madness, garden designs and installs, interior designs and installs, equals one tired gal! Thankfully the shop is in the best of hands with the best of staff. One bit I am focusing on constantly when adding plantings into the designs is my clear focus on foliage shape and color, the two most important elements to an interesting landscape, with impact. It is how to extend a colorful garden Gorgeous? YES! But.....what happens when those flowers are gone? Sure there may be some flowers to follow however it could have season long impact. In this case all green, smallish leaves = b-o-r-i-n-g Same here. It is easy to create a lovely garden in mid-summer, it is the remainder of the year that is important too Uniquely attractive, in a subtle way. Today however it is all about impact created with diverse foliage POW! YES! Virtually few perennials, massive interest with diversity of colored foliage and varying leaf shapes GROUND COVERS Lamium 'White Nancy', sparkles in the evening Ajuga 'Bronze Beauty' with the added bonus of blue flowering spikes in Spring Lysimachia 'Aurea' ORNAMENTAL GRASSES Miscanthus 'Zebra Grass' Festuca 'Elijah Blue; Miscanthus 'Purpurascens ' For shade, 'Hakonechloa 'All Gold' HERBS Purple Sage Purple Basil Variegated Thyme 'Lemon' ANNUALS Caladium 'Ansel Adams'........to die for! Caladium 'Gingerland' Coleus 'Watermelon' Helichrysium 'Icicles' Ornamental Cabbage FERNS Japanese Painted fern HOSTAS Hadspen Blue June 'Coast to Coast' 'Fire and Ice' PERENNIALS Heuchera's......In every imaginable color, well, almost Geranium 'Espresso' Brownish foliage with delicate pink flowers that blooms from late April to late September. I like to underplant it with the ground cover Lysimachia 'Aurea', shown above. This is a real POP, as this beauty can fade into the mulch. You do mulch don't you? Heucherella 'Sweet Tea' Brunnera 'Jack Frost' Actea 'Black Negligee'. Tall with architectural foliage blooms in late Autumn with bottle brush spikes laced with the scent of vanilla Stachys 'Big Ears' VINES Hello Gorgeous! Clematis 'Stolwijk' Hardy Kiwi Vine Only the MALE has this coloration Climbing Hydrangea 'Firefly' SHRUBS Physocarpus 'Amber Jubilee' This is year round, not just Autumn! Pittosporum 'Irene Paterson' Sambucus 'Plumosa Aurea' Fothergilla 'Blue Mist' CONIFERS Again, not a flower in sight False Cypress 'Gold dwarf' Abies 'Silberlocke' TREES Pyrus 'Silver Frost' Cercis 'Forest Pansy' Yes, a burgundy leafed Redbud! White Birch Cornus 'Golden Shadows' And........that is just for starters! Now, how to combine these plants in your borders. This is where the leaf shape takes center stage. The best neighbors are opposites; thick leaf next to thin leaves More of the above Thick and thin Something else to note......if you have a bed that appears to be messy, the cause is often too many small leaves. Large leaves lend order. Imagine if the above tropical was not there, there would be no focal point and the Verbena would appear medowish Let's take a look at great examples of this conversation Hope you found some inspiration, I love this topic! Thank you for reading...... Debra

Step into an artistic Sydney courtyard from new book: The Gardens of Eden: New Residential Garden Concepts and Architecture for a Greener Planet.

Desert landscapes look like the backdrops in old cartoons, endless loops showing a lone cactus silhouetted against the sky while Road Runner and Wile E. Co

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This is my third year at the Chelsea Flower Show and it remains an emotional experience. Excitement, inspiration. Admiration for the designers. Threaded with regret for my wasted years of not focussing on garden design. Only counterbalanced by a tiny sparkle of hope from the RHS education programme that tells me it's not too late.

Unsere Tischlampe Fahid ist eine wunderschöne orientalische Lampe, welche sorgsam von Hand gefertigt wurde! Ihre traumhaften Muster und Schattenspiele verzaubern jeden Raum. Die Bodenlampe ist in von innen und außen in weiss lackiert. Die Stehlampe wurde in Handarbeit gefertigt und zaubert durch die vielen eingestanzten Löcher filigrane Schattenspiele an ihre Wand! Sie ist ein unverzichtbares Accessoire für eine orientalisch eingerichtete Wohnung, doch auch in modernen und mediterranen eingerichteten Wohnungen ist diese orientalische Lampe ein echter Hingucker aus 1001 Nacht! Verzaubern Sie in Ihren Wohnbereich mit unseren Lampen in eine geheimnisvolle orientalische Atmosphäre! Die Spitze lässt sich öffnen um das Leuchtmittel zu installieren. Diese Lampe ist nur für die elektrische Beleuchtung geeignet.

A spirited argument with myself was won by the Garden Visitor , lost by the Garden Worker. But it's ok, the Garden Visitor was home by ...

We think we might have finally found the Goldilocks sweet spot of yoga retreats – it’s called Silver Island it's located in Greece.

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Cumberland Park Splash Pad is a fun way to cool off on a hot day in Nashville. We've got tips, info, and ideas for dinner and sweet treats afterward.

From a stony desert to a lively green city park, the radical transformation of the Bogaardplein is the long-awaited kick-off for the further development of the Rijswijk city centre In De Bogaard. Structural greening is the starting point for optimising the liveability and resilience of the city. By interweaving as much nature as possible with […]

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