With spring generating flowers in my garden non-stop at the moment, it's easy to overlook the garden's foliage. I took a closer look at my garden yesterday and wanted to share the fresh green foliage my deciduous trees and shrubs have produced (with a few other foliage highlights thrown in).
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Dwarf Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa'
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The oldest of my 2 Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' (aka coral bark maple)
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This is the small 'Sango Kaku' I added to the front garden last year. Although fairly well-protected from the harsh summer sun by the hedge behind it, its leaves and stem tips were scorched last summer.
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I actually like the rust-tinged foliage of Calliandra haematocephala (aka powder-puff shrub) better than its flowers
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Although cut back to the ground when summer's heat toasts their foliage, the 4 artichokes (Cynara) on the back slope return reliably every spring. There's no sign of chokes yet, though.
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| I planted this Dais cotinifolia (aka pom-pom tree) from a 4-inch pot in 2019. I've been pruning it annually to keep it small but it still hasn't bloomed for me. |
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| Persimmon 'Fuyu' (Diospyrus) is one of the few plants in my garden that provides good fall/winter foliage color. It's spring green color isn't bad either. |
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Persimmon 'Hachiya' is leafing out again too
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I couldn't help worrying about the Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' we put in last May to replace the dying mimosa tree we removed. We didn't get much in the way of fall color from it last year as summer's heat burned the foliage but I've been giving it extra water and hope that'll help it get well-established.
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Even in my climate coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides) generally dies back in winter. The 2 plants in this half-barrel, in an area of mostly shade protected by a hedge on the left and other plants on the right, kept on growing. And I pruned it twice!
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We didn't even know this peach tree (Prunus persica) near the property line on the back slope was there until we removed the out-of-control Yucca elephantipes that formerly occupied the boundary line. It's never produced mature fruit but it offers partial screening of the neighbor's property.
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Protea nerifolia 'Pink Ice' has never bloomed. After 2 years in a pot, I planted it in my dry north-side garden in late 2018. It's producing new foliage each year, which I'm hoping is a positive sign.
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The ornamental pear (Pyrus calleryana) in the front garden suddenly dropped its flowers and sprouted new leaves during one of our first winter heatwaves
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The Xylosma congestum hedge lining the backyard border was overblown with new growth until the gardener trimmed it into submission shortly after this photo was taken. It won't be long before it produces another flush of new growth.
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Just as I was considering digging out the stump of the Yucca 'Bright Star' I cut to the ground last year after it was butchered by a well-meaning gardener, I noticed what appears to be new growth developing inches away. As the mature plants I've priced go for $110, this is a good sign!
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It's been feeling more like early summer than spring here this week and of course it remains very dry. The TV weather forecasters have been teasing us with a prospect of rain this weekend but both weather services I regularly check show nothing higher than a 13% chance of rain Saturday night. Good for those running in the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday perhaps but not great news for gardeners.
All material © 2012-2022by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
