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| Pulmonaria, Hakonechloa aurea and Heuchera Silver Scrolls in my back garden |
"Beauty without Bloom" is a copyrighted post, written for my nature blog called leavesnbloom by Rosie in Perthshire, Scotland.
Today I'm going to highlight just a few from my garden.
From the delicate texture of the Japanese Painted Fern (Athryium niponicum pictum).
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| Japanese Painted Fern |
to the aromatic foliage of the Salvia tricolour and the feathery soft leaves of Artemisia arboretum (Southernwood). Even though these 2 can produce flowers I grow them for their leaves as they look good grown beside scented dianthus and a lovely contrast to the Sea Holly and pink Sedum Iceplant.
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| Salvia tricolour |
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| Artemisia arboretum |
Then there's the wispy Foeniculum vulgare Bronze Fennel, the dark and mysterious Physocarpus diablo (Ninebark) along with the unrestrained Humlus lupus (Golden Hop). All capturing the atmosphere in one area of the garden. Daylilies, asters and rubeckia grow amongst these 3 foliage plants. The Golden Hop flowers are quite insignificant, the Physocarpus ones have now finished and the fennel blooms will have opened by the end of the month.
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| Golden Hop, Bronze Fennel and Physocarpus diablo |
Then there's dusky drama from the Sedum Purple Emperor leaves and stems. This will flower for me very soon but I think its foliage just like the heuchera leaves are great foils for other plants in the garden.
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| Sedum Purple Emperor with Pulmonaria and Hakonechloa Aurea in the background |
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| Sedum Purple Emperor against a backdrop of Santolina Chamaecyparissus |
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| Santolina Lemon Fizz |
These all have beauty without bloom in my garden just now.
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| Phormium Jester and Origanium vulgare aurea |
What beauty without bloom do you have in your garden today?
© 2010 on all text and photographs by Rosie at www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com
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"Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20
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29 comments:
You are right Rosie, gardens allow plants to grow. Flowers appear for a brief portion of the time. The rest of the time is all about shoots, roots, leaves, stems, branches, little buds, old leaves falling, etc... Each has beauty of its own.
Have a great weekend
~bangchik
Your foliage plants are as beautiful as your flowers. I have some begonias and alpinias which rival any flower in beauty.
I guess it's one of those things all gardeners have to grow to appreciate. I find myself starting to enjoy foliage without flowers, and before I wouldn't look twice at a plant or tree if it didn't bloom. Beautiful photos!
Rosie, this was a lesson I had to learn at our first house. My grandad was a flower gardener, and I thought all gardens were supposed to be filled with blooms. Well, when you live in the middle of a very dark redwood forest, a lot of plants simply won't, or can't bloom. I tried, and I lost plants. Eventually, I shifted to a more truly shade-oriented garden, I learned to appreciate foliage colors and textures. My garden was always green, as most of the plants were evergreens of various shades. My blazes of color though usually came in the autumn with strategically placed Japanese maples. As much as I love flowers, I still miss that garden...
Lovely foliage combos. I grow the golden hops, ninebark and bronze fennel, but never thought of putting them together - very nice!
Those greens are pretty!
Beautiful foliage Rosie! I love your Sage and all the shades of green. Leaves definitely make a difference in the garden. I think one of my favorites is indoor, Zebra Plant which is very tropical to look at. I also like my Stonecrop out in the garden, no flowers but adds color and texture! I also love the heart shaped foliage of my Hosta. Have a great weekend :)
You might like to hook this in to Pam @ Digging's Foliage Followup meme?
Rosie, your foliage gives beautiful color and texture in your garden. I think leaves with variety are what give a garden interest. That first photo is my favorite. I read in a gardening book back in my early days that too much colorful foliage is distracting and should be avoided. I've always ignored that advice. There is much beauty without bloom to be found in my garden today...the psychedelic stromanthes, ti plants, neoregelias, pothos, philodendrons, 'Fire and Ice' hibiscus...I could go on and on.
Those are some amazing foliage plants.
You are an angel, thanks for sharing Heather's link in a comment on my blog.
Rosey P
Your blog is beautiful, and I 've so enjoyed my walk throught your gardens! I must say my favorite is your Lemon Fizz. Hmm... wonder if it will grow in USDA zone 5?
I love your foliage combinations! Foliage is an important part of my garden. I always look at leaf texture, form, and color first. I think your santolina lemon fuzz and sedum Purple Emperor would get bonus points on all fronts!
You are righ Rosie, contrasting leaf colors give interest to the landscape throughout the year.
You certainly have a wide variety of colorful bushes, I especially like those purple-silver leaved ones contrasting the golden shades.
Hi Rosie,
Here's a seed, not a weed. Your bloomless garden is very colourful and beautiful indeeed.
One
Yah, I agree that some foliage plants are wonderful too! My house is filled with dieffenbachias, calatheas, agloanemas, coleus, ferns, etc. etc.
You have some inspiring combinations of beautiful foliage, Rosie. I enjoyed seeing what your favorites are. Thanks for joining in Foliage Follow-Up!
Rosie, I have come to the same conclusion. When I first started gardening I was all about flowers, a riot of colour as they say. Now the flowers are just extra, set of by the different shapes textures and colour of the foliage.
I agree about the foliage. And you have them in the most beautiful colours. I have some crotons--mainstays of tropical gardens. The rainy season brings out the best in most of the foliage plants here.
Love the delicate look of the Japanese Painted fern.
Grasses and leaves can make for some absolutely beautiful images. We often get so caught up in the blossoms, that we forget to appreciate the foliage.
Oh my goodness, Rosie--we have many of the same plants. But of course, we combine them very differently... I love seeing the golden hops with the bronze fennel and purple ninebark. I think I might need the hops myself. And I definitely need that beautiful 'Lemon Fizz' santolina--I didn't even know that a yellow-foliaged santolina existed!!!
What a fantastic array of wondrous foliage, Rosie! Oftentimes, beauty transcends the obvious in our garden sensibilities. Case in point, there's an amazing variety of ornamental corn from Japan called "Japonica Striped Maize" which has striped, variegated leaves in hues of pink, white, yellow and green. A real Cinderella in the ruff...
Rosie, This is a lesson I still struggle with at C&L! Especially difficult in a dry shade garden~Santolina lemon Fizz is a wonderful color and so is Diablo Ninebark~Very nice post! gail
It's amazing what beauty you can find even without flowers!
Some lovely examples of foliage plants here - I particularly love the Santolina Lemon Fizz
I hear you Rosie. Now it seems everytime I buy a plant, I am choosing based on the foliage. Looking at my garden this past weekend, not a lot in flower, but lots of colour.
such a wonderful post, you have a grand garden!
That is so true about gardens being more than places for flowers. Foliage, texture, leaf color, structure, multi-season interest make the truly lovely garden.
Lovely shots - I have got a number of succulents on my balcony... not a lot of flowers.
These plants are definitely beautiful even without blooms. Thanks for showing such beauty through your lovely photos.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today and leaving a comment and I really appreciate you taking the time to do so. I'll either reply to you on my blog or else make a return visit to your blog over the next few days.