Use Colorful Foliage
When a plant that is known for its flowers comes in bloom, it is truly tough to beat. The beauty of flowers has inspired songs, sonnets, biblical verses, and Vera Bradley purses, poems, paintings, coats of arms and coats of paint on old VW buses. As for inspiration garnished from plants without pretty flowers, but having colorful foliage – not so much. Internet searches fail to reveal their contribution to the cultural arts, lore and literature. Without a history of noteworthy impact on society and songwriters, why buy plants with colored leaves when you can get plants with flower-power?
Some of the most amazing flowering perennials that put on a show of bloom may only last one to three weeks. Others may last longer and some bloom on and off throughout the summer. Nice, but there is bound to be some down-time in flowering when weather conditions such as drought, heat or cold, wind, and excessive rain hinder bloom production and duration. If it were not for trusty annuals like marigold, petunia, impatience, and begonia at times, some homes would be void of color.
Alternatives?
At this time, we will focus on those foliage plants installed outside. Indoor foliage plants merit its own discussion another day. There are foliage plants that bring bright color to your garden from the moment you plant them, to the day they die. Wow – talk about commitment and loyalty, most cats we’ve had never come close to that. In the presence of a Japanese Painted Fern, variety “Godzilla” our kitty would pee and flee.
Foliage plants come in a range of color, size, and form that accommodates any corner of your home landscape, container, window box, or the basket of an old bicycle. (Yes, it’s cool. Call it garden-art, and we did it before there was Pinterest.) For the shorter, more compact plants, the ornamental pepper “Purple Flash,” and any of the fancy leaf geraniums are outstanding. These are bonus plants, having more than one notable feature. Bright shiny fruits on the “Purple Flash” Pepper are highlighted by the deep purple foliage. Though geraniums have long been known for their flowers, the foliage of the fancy-leaf geraniums brings double the delight. Both are ideal in containers where they can be viewed close-up to appreciate these qualities.
Heuchera (Coral Bells) as many gardeners know, have exploded in color and interest offerings.
Heuchera – Proven Winners Perennial Resource
They also bring a double show of both flowers (nice) and fancy foliage (OMG nice). One can only imagine the colors from their somewhat delicious names. If stories are true that marketing teams have been locked in rooms for days with release only granted when catchy (sometimes kitschy) names are contrived for newly developed plants, then that would explain Heuchera names. It is unclear if the motive was ice-cream flavors or sheer hunger that drove the naming of Heucheras, but a theme is evident with varieties like: “Lemon Love,” “Peachberry Ice,” “Pretty Pistachio,” “Silver Gumdrop,” “Grape Expectations,” “Electric Plum,” and many, many more.
Caladiums are in a class by themselves and a must internet search to view their fantastic foliage. Varieties like “Puppy Love” will warm your heart and “Carousel” will leave you spinning. On a larger scale, consider the colorful array of Cannas, Crotons, and the sway of the Purple Fountain Grass puts motion in the garden.
We are only scratching the surface of the bounty of colorful foliage plants to recommend, but there’s only so much room. It’s best to wrap up with Hosta, a foliage plant that has been around for generations and featured its decorative leaves long before it was trendy. There are literally thousands of varieties to choose from. One that is worth noting is variety “Touch of Class,” which is bound to bring an ordinary garden, a notch higher.
-Rob McCartney, Horticulturist
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