Yes, I grow a lot of flowering plants. But over the years I've also developed a good backbone of foliage plants. When I find a plant I like, I often look for more plants in the same species or genus. After the floral excesses of
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, I thought I'd close out the week by featuring some of my favorite foliage.
![]() |
| I also like to combine complementary foliage. This is Aeonium 'Mardi Gras' with Coprosma repens 'Fire Burst'. |
![]() |
| I inherited this clump of Agave attenuata with the garden but I've planted pups from this clump in numerous other areas |
![]() |
| This photo of the flaking bark on Arbutus 'Marina' is off-topic but, as all five of my Arbutus are doing their thing right now, I felt I had to share at least one photo |
![]() |
| This mass of agaves in my north side dry garden grabbed my attention, in part because the dense clusters of the smaller agave are now encroaching on the larger Agave funkiana 'Blue Haze'. I didn't have a name for the clustered agaves and I went down a rabbit hole looking for one. I found similar plants labeled 'Rosa Gorda' and other things but couldn't locate a formally accepted name. Even San Marcos Growers, my go-to source for plant IDs admitted to the confusion as to its name. One on-line commentator identified it as a hybrid of Agave potatorum and A. isthemensis but didn't cite a source. |
![]() |
| My oldest Agave ovatifolia sits several feet away from the mystery clump in the same bed. It's gotten rather cozy with the Agave vilmoriniana on its left. |
![]() |
| I inherited several Calliandra haematocephala with the garden too, all used as foundation plants, which means they're regularly sheared to keep them within bounds. The good news there is the fresh new foliage is gorgeous. I actually like the foliage of this plant better than it's pinkish-red powder-puff flowers. |
![]() |
| This is Centaurea 'Silver Feathers', which I like in this location, where it glows. I've got too many in another location in the back garden and some or all are going to have to come out as one walkway is no longer passable. |
![]() |
| I may have over-used Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' as well. I have these plants in both my front and back gardens. Those shown here are in the back, on opposite sides of the flagstone path. The clump on the right is encroaching on Yucca 'Bright Star' and needs to be thinned. |
![]() |
| I only have one Dasylirion longisssimum and I'm not sure I like it here but I recently cut back a blue-flowering mass of Wahlenbergia in front on it to reveal its structure so I can make a decision on whether or not to keep it. (The purple-leafed plant behind it is Vitex trifolia.) |
![]() |
| Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' deserves its name. I have two, one of which I brought with me from our former house. It's the one on the left, which gets more sun and glows this time of year. The plant on the right is in partial shade. |
![]() |
| I often forget that I have a Leucadendron 'Ebony' but I caught it peeking above the mass of Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite' in front of it and snapped the photo on the left yesterday morning. I subsequently cut back some of the Grevillea and took a second photo yesterday evening. A bit more pruning is required I think. (The plant behind 'Ebony' is Leucadendron salignum 'Chief'.) |
![]() |
| I have more grass-like Lomandra longifolia 'Breeze' than I can count off-hand |
![]() |
| Here are more in the back garden, mingling with Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope', the color of which is echoed by Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' in the background |
![]() |
| And here's still more in the front garden, mixed with Phormium 'Maori Queen' (and that's not even all of it) |
![]() |
| I only have one Melinathus major but it's looking its best right now. I cut it down to the ground each year. It's complemented here by Leucadendron 'Jester'. This 'Jester' is always relatively pale by comparison to the one I have in full sun. |
![]() |
| I was ready to pull out this Phormium 'Yellow Wave' but, after two years of decent rain, it's looking better. There's a second Phormium behind it, which I think is supposed to be 'Apricot Queen' but just looks like a smaller version of 'Yellow Wave', never having developed any apricot color. |
![]() |
| These Yucca 'Blue Boy' sit in the same bed. The one on the left was given to me by Denise of 'A Growing Obsession' years ago after I reported losing another one to agave snout weevil. There's a third tiny plant in there too, which I found growing in another bed a year or more after I removed the infected plant. |
![]() |
| Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' is a slow-grower. I planted the one on the right in a decaying tree stump to deter the raccoons from using that spot as their toilet. It's taken awhile but my strategy finally seems to be working. |
That's it from me for this week. I hope you're finding ways to stay both healthy and sane as the scourge of the novel coronavirus continues to afflict the US. Seriously, anyone who doesn't mask up when going out in public needs to look in the mirror before complaining about shut-downs and the tanking US economy. In addition to wearing a mask, be sure to vote in November - we can't afford four more years of this reality game show with people's lives at stake.
All material © 2012-2020 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
