It's Foliage Follow-up Day and I'm joining Pam at
Digging to recognize the significant role foliage plays in creating a beautiful garden. For this month's post, I'm focusing on some of the foliage plants that add touches of red to my garden.
Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' is sporting lots of new growth in an orange-red color. I have 3 of these peppermint-scented plants in the south-side garden bed adjacent to the patio.
![]() |
| The color of the Agonis' new growth is echoed in the foliage of Phormium 'Amazing Red,' Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey' and various succulents |
![]() |
| The same Agonis, photographed from the other direction |
![]() |
| Close-up of the wavy stems and curly leaves of Agonis flexuosa 'Nana' |
I love the
Leptospermum polygalifolium 'Copper Glow' I planted in my front garden in November but it always seems to be either too dark or too sunny to get a good photograph. The best I could do today was this:
![]() |
| A graceful stem of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow' hangs above Phormium 'Maori Queen' |
Another relatively new plant with red touches is
Dianella tasmanica 'Tasred,' which I picked up from the Australian Native Plants Nursery in March.
![]() |
| The base of these Dianellas is red |
During that same shopping trip, at Sperling Nursery, I picked up Helleborus 'Anna's Red.'
![]() |
| I presume that Helleborus 'Anna's Red' gets it's name from the color of its flowers but there's also a touch of red in the stems and the base of the leaf cluster |
The biggest splash of red color I'll share today comes from an
Aeonium I picked up early last year. It didn't come with a label but my best guess is that it's
Aeonium 'Garnet,' reported to be a hybrid of
A. arboreum 'Zwartkop' and
A. tabuliforme.
![]() |
| Unlike A. 'Zwartkop,' this Aeonium hasn't developed tall stalks |
My last foliage pick this month is Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' (aka coral bark maple). Planted early in 2011, not long after we moved in, it's the most successful Japanese maple in my garden, possibly because it had a chance to get established before I began ratcheting down the irrigation in my garden. Its placement beside the garage, where it's protected from the wind and receives only morning sun, probably also helps.
![]() |
| Acer Sango Kaku' has almost fully leafed out |
Visit Pam at Digging to see her foliage picks this month and find links to other gardeners' foliage picks.
All material
© 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
