Focusing on fresh foliage

As the deciduous plants in my garden as well as elsewhere in the neighborhood are leafing out, I thought it would be a great time to highlight that fresh green foliage.

This is Acer palmatum 'Mikawa Yatsubusa', a dwarf Japanese maple.  It's one of the last plants to lose its leaves and one of the first to leaf out.

I planted this Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku'  (coral bark maple) in March 2011, making it one of the earliest plants I added to this garden after we moved in

I knew that Japanese maples can develop flowers but this is the first time I remember seeing them

I planted another 'Sango Kaku' in our front garden in March 2021.  It's still struggling, even in this protected spot behind our Xylosma hedge.

I cut back this Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' (smoke bush) last fall and it's only recently surfaced above the foliage of the surrounding Cistus plants.  It's already produced one flower spike, the first I've ever seen since it was planted in 2016.

The artichokes (Cynara cardunculus) I planted on the back slope years ago keep coming back, getting much larger than I'd expected when I planted them

This persimmon tree (Diospyros kaki 'Fuyu') produces the best autumn color in my garden.  Its spring foliage is a gorgeous lime green.

My other persimmon tree (Disospyros kaki 'Hachiya') isn't as flashy in either autumn or spring but it's still attractive

Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' has been in my backyard garden for a little less than 2 years but it's doing well so far

Planted in bud in May 2013, intersectional Paeonia 'Keiko' (Itoh peony 'Pink Double Dandy') bloomed once just weeks later, then never bloomed again.  It produces pretty foliage but I regret the absence of flowers.  The first photo was taken in late March.  The second was taken yesterday.  I keep hoping...

An ornamental pear tree (Prunus calleryana), inherited with the garden

I've relatively few deciduous plants but some evergreen plants freshen up nicely during the spring season.

I added a few Aeonium 'Velour' cuttings to the back slope last fall.  It appears they appreciated all the rain we got this spring!

Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' is continuously refreshing its foliage but I cut the 3 shrubs on the south side of my garden back hard in December for just the second time since I planted them in September 2013.  They were slower to come back this time but that may be due to the cooler temperatures we've had.

Calliandra haematocephala (red powder puff) produces splashy red foliage every time it's cut back

When I first noticed the pinkish new foliage on this Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' I initially thought its flowers were already developing

I shot a couple of photos of neighborhood trees too.

These are the Liquidamber trees (sweetgums) across the street

This massive stone pine (Pinus pinea) sits atop the terraced front garden of another neighbor.  It's not deciduous but it got its annual pruning the day before I took this photo and it's looking great.  The couple who owned the house when we moved into the neighborhood actually had the tree insured and had it pruned by experts (the same firm I use) annually.  It seems the new owners have continued the practice.

A couple of my prized foliage plants aren't looking their best and I've been planning their replacement.

I allowed the sad-looking Coleonema pulchellum on the left to get too big and cut it back harder than I'd planned.  As I've also gotten tired of it in this spot, I've been considering replacing it with a Leucospermum but flower color is an issue.  At the same time, the Echium 'Star of Madeira' on the right has become woody and isn't flowering as well as it once was.  I found a replacement Echium last week (yay!) but now I'm considering placing the Echium in the Coleonema's spot and planting a Leucospermum I'm coveting in the Echium's place.

 We shall see where those deliberations lead.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party