Foliage Follow-Up: April 2010

Now that we've celebrated my shady blossoms, its time to turn our attention to the foliage.

I have slowly learned that a shady garden is really a leafy garden.  I often give in to blossom envy; purchasing plants that, fresh from the nursery, bloom that first year, but only feebly thereafter.  Thus my garden has shown me that I'd better pay attention to plants that are grown predominately for their foliage.

Here are a few that were selected with that specifically in mind:

Red Dragon Knotweed

(Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon')

Frozen to the ground this past winter, it is coming back strong.  Initial growth from the ground was burgundy, but with warmer temperatures it has developed into its typical red/green pattern.  Forms a mound about 3 foot tall & wide.  Late in the season last year, it even produced scattered clusters of tiny white blossoms.  It seems pretty easy to grow from cuttings.

Variegated Shell Ginger

(Alpinia zerumbet 'Variegata')

Originally planted in the ground, the winter freezes kept seriously setting the plant back.  So I eventually moved it into a pot so that I could protect it from the low temperatures.  I've heard that it can bloom, but mine never has.

Gold Dust Plant

(Aucuba japonica 'Variegata')

This evergreen shrub has a very nice impact in the shade garden.  Seems to like filtered light, but will even grow in those shadier portions of the yard.  Can be grown from cuttings, but grows so slowly I'm not sure if it is worth it.

Hosta  'Gold Standard'

This plant was my very first Hosta, and I've never been disappointed in it.  Though it has never bloomed for me, each year it has come back thicker and larger.  I enjoy the ribbed leaves with their darker green edges.  It tends to lift the leaves up high which reduces slug & pillbug damage.

Purple Shamrock

(Oxalis triangularis subsp. papilionaceae 'Atropurpurea')

Always nice to introduce leaves to the shade garden that break through the green barrier.  Though dark leaves tend to disappear into the shade, these tend to look nice when planted near light green vegetation.  And it's pale pink blossoms show up well against the purple.

Manfreda 'Macho Mocha' 

Recommended for shade by a guest on Central Texas Gardener, my single plant has produced pups that have led to my now having four good sized Manfredas.  They are also rumored to do well in the sun (though I have no personal experience with that!).  Unprotected, it shrugged off this winter's 18 degree lows with no damage at all.  Early in the spring, as the sunshine reaches it through the barren red oaks, it's leaves get dark freckles that merge to form darker patches.  As the oak leaves return and shade becomes more of the norm, the leaves lose their freckles and turn light green.

Though some of these plants produce blooms, it is their vegetation that steals the shady show.

Rising from the Dead

Spent the afternoon sweeping, blowing and even mowing up my oak fuzzies.  Often enveloped in a yellow-brown cloud, I labored along behind the mower, thinking of the plants that have, over the past week, elevated themselves from the ranks of "possibly dead" through "only napping" to "actually showing green".

Was really not too worried about the Hosta 'Gold Standard'.  It was my first and, until last spring, only Hosta.  It had always held up well through the summers and just kept appearing each spring larger than the last.  Then this past severely hot Austin summer hit and it showed wear for the first time.  But its back!

The Gold Standard had done so well, I threw caution to the wind last spring and planted 4-5 different varieties of Hostas.  Then came the summer of endless 100+ degree days, and I watched all the Hostas disappear (except for the aforementioned Gold Standard; it only shrunk).  Well before fall, they were all long gone.  Didn't really expect to see any of these recent plantings return, but, lo & behold, the Hosta 'Shade Fanfare' has made a surprise appearance.

I had placed three Variegated Flax Lilies (Dianella tasmanica 'Variegata') in locations around the yard last spring, and really enjoyed the splash of white they lent to the shady areas.  They seemed quite content and grew well, shrugging off the heat.  Winter arrived with several 25-30 degree lows - but they still looked great, showing no damage from the freezing temperatures.  I was impressed.  Then the thermometer plummeted to 18 degrees.  The Flax Lilies vibrant green and white quickly changed to brown.  I trimmed them back last month, but was afraid that they were gone.  Then I discovered a shoot of green - at each of the three plants.

In the fall, I transplanted three Mexican Petunias (Ruellia tweediana 'Colobe Pink') to a slightly less shady spot in the hopes of garnering more pink blooms.  And even if the bloom level remained the same, the plants were closer to the deck where they could be enjoyed.  Then, before they likely could get established, winter arrived.  These plants had never shown the least problem with low temperatures, but the recent planting coupled with 10 year lows knocked them back down to the ground.  But as the soil has warmed, they have re-emerged.

There were others on my "worry" list; some because of recent transplants, some because this was my first winter with them in the yard.  But many now have small leaves growing from the stems or sprouts emerging from the ground.  The Chile Petin (Capsicum annuum var. aviculare, not pictured), Mountain Sage & Red Christmas Pride have all started putting on their green.

 Mountain Sage (Salvia regla)

Red Christmas Pride (Ruellia amoena)

There remains "worries" regarding a few others, but its quite nice to see life returning.