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Sunday 30 May 2010

Foliage Followers Flock : ) Thanks Jodi !

I had to join in with Jodi The Blooming Writer .. on the assets of foliage in your garden .. well heck ! in your pots as well really : )
I am a foliage fan fanatic .. flowers are nice but they pass along fairly quickly .. foliage on the other hand sticks by you until the bitter end of the season .. most times .. and you have to respect that don't you ?
Here you see a monster Bittersweet vine that has eaten its arbor up .. but wow .. talk about green on green and the scent it had this year was totally amazing : )
Yes .. there are some flowers there .. bulbs .. Alliums of the larger kind coming to an end with the Bulb Circle .. it was gorgeous but now the work horse of the garden "FOLIAGE" has taken over !
I have indulged my cravings with acquiring different brunnera, heuchera and heucherella all soft spots for me .. plus my first ever pulmonaria "Moonshine" ..
Yes Korean Yellow Wax Bells .. meadowsweet, campanula, hosta, heuchera, tiarella, lily .. it is one heck of a mix and I love the utter foliage chaos !
Now for something completely different ?
Echeveria 'Perle Von Nurnberg' .. how "foliage" can you get ? it is too beautiful to believe isn't it ?
Provence lavender (not in bloom .. see ? .. but still lovely) paired with hosta-in-a-pot !
Fennel and dwarf dill .. parsley flat leaf and curly ... Pineapple sage with that magical scent of pineapple !! not seen is the chocolate mint which smells exactly like chocolate MINT !
OK .. a euphorbia .. maybe Diamond Frost .. it wasn't on the tag .. but it edged its way in ;-)
Here we have the mix and match and mismatched and what ever !
I love the jumble with NO rules !
Hopefully I have left room for growth and they will smile at me next year even larger than life !

Bittersweet to the end ?

OOPS !!! ... Niobe was just so beautiful I had to sneak her in for the finale ? : )

Foliage does it for me .. with a dotting of flowers .. but it is the way of the foliage that is the backbone of my garden no question about that !

Jodi .. I will let you know about my Colourflash astilbe !!

22 comments:

Rebecca said...

"Foliage chaos" and "jumble with no rules" -- I've been looking for words to describe OUR style, and this is IT! Thanks!

I thoroughly enjoyed this post!

RURAL said...

I hear you loud and green! Foliage all the way. I love different shades of leaves, and they are the backbone of my little patio garden also. As I look out the window right now, there are masses of hosta's, ferns, and lots of green. Lovin it.

I will have to pop over to Jodi's to read her post.

Jen

Victoria said...

Super aweseom post..magnificently beautiful! I am intirgued by the "bittersweet"..woow..i want some!! I neeed some!
Have a gorgeous day!
Kiki~

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Has anyone told you lately you are a magician with foliage?? Well, you are! :)

Kimberly said...

Joy, my friend, you have gorgeous foliage! WOW! Although I have to admit that your Niobe is worthy of some coverage as well! Beautiful!

Northern Shade said...

I love the look of beautiful leaves in the garden. Brunnera, Heuchera and Heucherella have some of the most wonderful foliage, and their solid leaves look good next to finer ones. Is that your new Brunnera (Mr. Morse?) and Pulmonaria at the front of the eighth photo? Everything is looking lush in your garden.

Kit Aerie-el said...

I'm with you girl--foliage rules! (but don't tell the clematis that...LOL)

gittan said...

AMEN! Foliage is the thing!!! And I LOVE it! Without that... what would the garden look like?

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thank you Rebecca !
I think we jumble gardeners buck the conservative system and go with our gut feeling ? and that is what we should do ! It is our garden and we should be following our hearts : )

Jen girl !
Your patio plantings sound like heaven : ) They cool the air , they freshen, they create an atmosphere so calming and beautiful it has to be perfection ! Wish I could see it in person girl : )

Kiki girl I have had this Bittersweet for some time .. it always had a bit of fragrance but this year was amazing .. all that heat forced it I'm sure .. not obvious flowering but the scent makes up for it .. you have to have it girl !!

Ms S girl ! You are too sweet : ) thank you so much .. I do LOVE foliage .. reminds me of being a kid playing in the woods .. not a lot of flowers in a woodland area but BEAUTIFUL greenery and it seemed to wrap its arms around me : ) Life long impression !

Hello there Kimberly girl : ) I am guilty of not making the blog rounds .. disc in said bad back VERY cranky and entirely mad at me ? OUCH ! Thank you so much and my foliage thanks you and miss Niobe thanks you too ! wink wink LOL ;-)

Hello there Northern Shade .. I know you know exactly what I am talking about with foliage .. you are a die hard fan too .. I had to put little name sticks by the new plantings so I could train my brain with who is who .. but I think you have it right .. I am so interested to see what "Silver Lining" is going to produce next year along with the white flowers of Mr. Morse ! Yes even with the hot weather these delights are doing well with watering and TLC : )

Aerie-el girl ! How are ya' : )
I'll keep it a secret from Ms. Niobe but I think the others might rat the story out ? haha

gittan : ) How true is that ? .. I really have to wonder about the people that are obsessed with flowers and don't see foliage as the major players ? LOL

Rose said...

Wow, you have some gorgeous foliage here, Joy! And Niobe is a star against all this green. I don't have an artistic eye when it comes to pairing foliage, so I just stick in the plants where there's room and hope they look good together:) In my humble opinion, you can't go wrong with heucheras and tiarellas.

Jennifer said...

I like your writing style- I found myself chuckling.

I too am a huge fan of using different leaf colors and textures to create an interesting tapestry.

Jennifer

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Rose girl thank you ! I just know you garden looks darn good no matter what you plant : ) .. and I too say how can any garden go wrong with heuchera, heucherella, and tiarella ;-) there is a spot no matter what the other plants say ? haha .. Yes because it has been so dry the earwigs and slugs are at bay so Niobe and the other kids are blooming beauties ! LOL

Thank you Jennifer .. a gardener without humour .. well, that would be scary !! leaf textures and colours are simply what makes the world go round ! ;-) and breath !

Dawn said...

Foliage or flower, your gardens/pots and little artworks, are beautiful.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello there Dawn !
You must have just popped in here ? LOL .. Thank you so much .. I have been disabled for a few days here and I miss being in the garden so much .. darn bad nasty discs in bad nasty back bone ! LOL

Carrie said...

you're so right (as always x), foliage is the back bone of any garden. I love it too and we have decided on lots of it for the new gardens in the new house (eventually). Plus I got 4 fab alpines at the weekend and spent ages enjoying their leaves.

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

Another great post Joy, but how do I keep missing these??? You have an amazing foliage collection, I am also a foliage over flowers person. Your garden is looking AMAZING. :) Rebecca

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hey there Carrie girl !
That is so exciting .. planning the new garden for the new house : ) I am so curious to know what kind of plants you will be getting and those alpines ? I have to get over to your place and see if you posted some pictures of them ? I hope so girl !!

Rebecca girl .. posting has been agony for me .. I am laid back with very naughty back discs that are screaming at me from previous heavy work .. and yet there is so much more to do I feel true panic trying to rest the back and handle the pain without going nuttier than I am ? LOL
Foliage is the name of the game for me .. we are having a bit of rain this morning .. the ground is so dry it will bounce off most likely .. jeez !!

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Good grief grrl, can't see your garden for the foliage.;-)

Vetsy said...

Your Foliage chaos" is fabulous! using foliage does add nice color and texture to one's garden I like what you've done.

The Niobe is fab too" I have never seen one like this one, I love the color and the shape of the flower.. It is a Clematis.. right?

Gorrrgeous!! I would love one of those.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hellllloooooo Yolanda girl !
I'm hiding in my foliage from the steamy weather .. wait a minute .. I think I am steaming from the steamy weather combined with all this foliage ? eeekkk ! I have to go in to the AC and hide out there now !!!! hahaha

Hello there Vetsy ! and thank you : ) Yes Niobe is a clematis beauty, mixed with white as with Henryi it is gorgeous .. but even on its own, it is a beautiful deep rich red like a merlot in fact .. I have it on the arbor gate ornamental Kiwi and Henryi .. I know you would love it too ! You have to get one girl : )

Anonymous said...

You have some spectacular examples of how foliage can really give the garden some pizazz! (sp? lol) I'm loving my Pulmonaria & Brunnera, the foliage alone was the selling point. They don't even need flowers to make them charming. ;) And Niobe is so spectacular that she deserves a spot in every post in my opinion

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Racquel girl ! Thank you : ) This is my first pulmonaria so I am a newbie to these plants .. so far so good I say ? LOL
I have had earwig problems with the arbor gate vines every year so the flowers were in bad shape .. but since it has been dry here it hasn't been so bad .. yet ... I am waiting for that shoe to drop ? eeekkk ! haha