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