Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Foliage plants with flare
Under layers of winter, I’m thinking of my gardens.
As I do, I ask you, have you ever looked out at your garden in the waning days between Spring and Summer, Summer and Fall and thought, man, my garden looks pooped?
It’s a great time to consider adding foliage plants to your landscape! Sipping on a hot beverage and perusing catalogs or the internet.
These foliage plants are workhorses of a sort, not only adding flare, sparkle and texture but keep our gardens beautiful as those flowers fade. One of my favorite silver foliage plants is Brunnera. It does flower, in fact quite beautifully in Spring.
The above is what I have, it doesn’t look quite this spectacular…. yet!
There are two more new Brunnera introductions for 2020! ‘Jack of Diamonds’ has uncommonly large 9-10″ leaves overlap at the base for a unique “escargot” effect.
Leaves have a silver overlay with wide dark green veining. It grows 14 to 16 inches tall and about 32 inches wide, takes part to full shade, as all Brunnera do and is hardy to zone 3.
‘Queen of Hearts’ is a couple of inches taller and 4 inches wider with narrower veining, giving it a brighter look in those dark corners.
From mid to late spring, baby blue, forget-me-not type blossoms are held in clusters above the foliage.
For sunnier areas, check out Artemisia, also called wormwood
and Stachys, also known as Lamb’s Ear, is another soft-to-the-touch plant. ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy’ is great for a full sun border.
