Golden Hour Foliage

Whether it's filigree, serrated, glossy, red, black, silver or green there's all sorts of foliage shapes, forms and colours here in the leavesnbloom garden.  One new addition last year was Corylus avellena "Red Majestic" which has twisting stems and crinkled leaves just like it's green relative otherwise known as Harry Lauder's Walking Stick.  What makes this corylus shrub so different is its stunning purple/ red leaves and its it purplish pink catkins in February.  Mine didn't produce catkins in 2011 so I'm hoping that now that it's a little more established in the garden that it will in 2012.

The shrub is supposed to be more compact that the green Corylus avellena 'contorta' though it has a tendency to send out the very odd green shoot which can be pulled away very easily.  The best leaf colour is maintained when it's grown in full sun though mine is growing in a semi shaded position. It will probably grow to about 2 metres but it can be kept to a more compact size through pruning in Spring especially if you are interested in floral art due to its bare twisted stems.

It grows here between a Phyllostachys aurea and an Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream' with  the chartreuse coloured flowers of the Alchemilla mollis that have self seeded at it's base.  Dark almost black coloured Aquilegias compliment the foliage in spring with the purple flowers from the Clematis viticella 'Flore Pleno' on the fence behind it during late summer. 

1. Small photo top left - Alchemilla mollis

2. Large photo bottom left - Corylus avellena 'Red Majestic' during the golden hour

3. Large photo top right - Corylus avellena 'Red Majestic' against the yellow bamboo

4. Bottom photo left and right - Aquilegia and Acer palmatum 'Orange Beauty'

For me the best time of the day to see its foliage in all of its beauty is about an hour before the sun sets as the light diffuses through the leaves. Lots of the foliage in the garden faces west and that golden light hour rejuvenates the leaf colours and brings them into another dimension.

1. Small photo top right: Cerastium tomentosum white flower

2.  Small photo top left: Gone gardening with the Heuchera 'Silver scrolls', Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' and Origanum vulgare 'Aureum'

3.  Small photo bottom left: Heuchera 'Silver Scrolls'

4. Small photo bottom right: Acer palmatum dissectum 'Garnet' 

5. Large photo: Acer palmatum with fern and Cerastium after sunset.

Across the little path at the pond a beautiful arching Acer palmatum dissectum 'Garnet' stretches over the cobbles ever so gently while a little green fern hems it's edges along with the small silver leaves from the Cerastium tomentosum 'Snow in summer'.  Few plants survive at the edge of this pond as there is more rock and stone than pliable soil.  The Cerastium certainly has made it's home here whereas in other areas of the garden I could look on it's spreading behaviour as being some what excessive.  You can view more flowers here on my GBBD post for June.  This is my submission to June's  Foliage Followup.

What are your favourite foliage plants at this time of year in the garden?

Related post

Male Catkins and Female Flowers on the Corylus avellena 'Contorta'

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