How to add IMPACT to your Gardens

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