Welcome to the second GBFD! I’m hoping to see some wonderful autumn colour from some posts; here in Italy, although we’ve had some rain and coldish winds for a week, the garden, in many ways, looks more like Spring than autumn. Our autumn colour usually begins mid-November and is often very short-lived. So I’m depending on you to share the colour around you with me.
I’d also like to thank everyone who joined in or left comments last month; there were some fascinating posts all with great images, this month should be even better with autumn (fall) beginning to give some beautiful colours in the northern hemisphere and spring just commencing in the southern hemisphere.
I have the feeling that the garden thinks it’s spring; is not just the number of plants blooming, and I have to say that there are now more than there were a week ago for GBBD; no, it is more the new foliage on everything from the red new foliage of the roses, to the fresh bright green of the Arbutus, to the peachy hues of Nandino.
Having said that there are a lot of flowers in the garden, it is the foliage that is predominant. Maybe the blooms are smaller now or fewer per plant but whatever it is, the foliage sings out. Looking from the drive across the upper drive bed to the large island the variety of different greens and not only greens of the leaves is like a tapestry or an embroidery blending together to give the garden a harmonious feeling.
I was given a specimen of the above plant last year, during summer it is a bright vibrant green; it needs little water even though it looks as if it would be very thirsty. In autumn the leaves turn first pink, then crimson, the flowers are the same colour as the foliage so maybe I’m cheating including this in a foliage post, but it looks much more like foliage than flowers so I’m including it. I will try to check on the name and add it when I can.
I bought Albizia ‘Chocolate in September 2009; it only just survived the cold winter last year and until the last couple of months has hardly grown at all. Suddenly it has begun to put on some healthy looking growth so I’m crossing everything hoping that at last it has its roots down and will grow into a small shrub and to take its part in the silver and purple combination I’m trying to achieve in the large island bed – all with plants that need no irrigation!
Most of the lavender has put on lots of new grow after being heavily pruned in early August. It does sometimes grow back from old wood. The colour and form is just right as we go into autumn and winter.
All the grasses are looking at their best, but I’m not going to include them here as it is their flowers, even if they don’t seem like flowers that are the attraction at the moment. You can see them in the background of many of the photographs. I have been surprised that Penisetum villosum continues to produce flowers into the autumn, there was a moment in mid-summer when I thought they were finishing.
When I was wandering around the garden I noticed that the leaves in the vegetable garden were putting on quite a show. Bright green, feathery Florence fennel and the almost blue or jade colour of broccoli foliage help make the vegetable garden pretty as well as productive.
Click on the image below to see more foliage from My Hesperides Garden.
I hope you will join in with your own foliage, either just one stunning leaf or a review of how foliage works for you in your garden, please leave a comment and the link to your post.
The last photo is my favorite, but the broccoli leaves are also stunning. Managed to get a GBFD post in this month. Thanks for hosting!
Thanks for joining in this month, I love the images of your butter-yellow leaves. Christina
Thank you Christina for hosting this Foliage Day again. What an amazing selection of foliage you have – as you say – itis more like spring, while ours definitely looks autumnal, everything dying down and switching off.
Lovely patterns are formed by the leaves on your slide show.
The link to my post is
http://www.leadupthegardenpath.com/news/foliage-day-2/#more-1835
I wouldn’t say yours is dying down, its stunning! I love all the hot pinks and crimsons, just beautiful. Christina
hello Christina, as always you have some fantastic things in your garden, I have just posted my small contribution to foliage day but all but 1 photo were taken 3 weeks ago because our weather has been very windy since, here’s the link
http://islandthreads.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/foliage-2/
thanks for hosting this, I do so like your silver and purple plants, Frances
Hi Frances, thank you for joining in; I don’t think it matters so much for foliage if the images have been taken during the month previous to the foliage post; it isn’t like blooms when I think it is important that we’re comparing what’s happening on the same day in different places. Christina
Christina your garden is usually good looking. I love the drought tolerant bed with all that grey foliage…
The unknown annual looks great, what is it?? Please tell me.
I’ve joined this month too to this beautiful meme, shame I only have few time and did it quite hastily. Sorry.
Anyway here it is:
http://altroverde.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/garden-bloggers-foliage-day-october-2011/
Hi Alberto, thanks for joing in this month, sorry its late accepting this I thought I’d already approved it. Christina
As always, I am jealous of the lavender, but you have a lot of beautiful foliage. Here is a link to a recent post on foliage for fall (but not fall color yet): http://carolynsshadegardens.com/2011/10/03/a-few-fall-favorites-for-foliage-and-fruit/. and another link to my current post on hostas for fall: http://carolynsshadegardens.com/2011/10/17/hostas-for-fall/. Enjoy.
Thank you for joining in Carolyn, I know both of these posts are excellent I read them when you first posted them, really useful information.
Done my foliage post – not much to show really which demonstrates that I need to think about this more. http://patientgardener.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/foliage-november-2011/
thanks for joining Helen, not true that you don’t have much to show, looks good to me! Christina
Thank you for creating such an inspiring blog event. Glad to be able to participate and share what my all time favorite autumn foliage.
http://gardenatninaplace.blogspot.com/2011/10/acer-palmatum-my-all-time-favorite.html
Hi Christina,
Lovely post, there’s a lot of nice foliage and I do think I tend to prefer silvery green shades – which you do have plenty of 🙂
Thanks for leaving a comment and I think your foliage looks lovely. Christina
I too did my post, but it is on moss. Being green, I hope it counts. Some is in my garden too, I just pictured much larger moss covered areas at the Falls.
Yes, moss counts, very green indeed, Christina
Christina,
I love the perfectly formed hedges of lavender, the waving Stipa t., and that wonderful Albizia! Everything looks both refreshed. Have you started to get some more rain, or is it just a decrease in the heat that has refreshed everything?
I will have to offer up an informal post this month, as it kind of sneaked up on me. (Busy being a first-year-soccer-mommy today.) But, it is a post with foliage worth appreciating. This was my first year growing cannas. Now that I am past the jitters, I would like to add more because I have truly enjoyed them.
http://wifemothergardener.blogspot.com/2011/10/hill-garden-on-october-morning.html
Thanks!
Julie
I love your Cannas with the light shining through the leaves they look magical; thanks for joining GBFD, Christina
Ciao Christina, here is the link to my post – meglio tarde che mai!
http://giardinoumbro.blogspot.com/
Happy autumn
Yvonne
Thanks for joining in GBFD Yvonne, no problem being late, Christina
High winds here – so the plants are dancing to much to be photographed, will post in a day or two.
I love the way the gravel sets off your planting, especially the image of the box and lavender.
The stipa is wonderful
K
We’ve had a lot of wind in the past week too, though luckily not at the weekend, we’ve been pickling our olives. Post when the wind drops and you can share your bounty. Christina
Your lavender looks lovely, but so does everything else – plenty of gorgeousness!
My own GBFD post is here: http://beangenie.wordpress.com/. REally enjoyed it; thanks for hosting!
Thanks for joining in Kate, your post is ravishing! Christina
Hi Christina, sorry to be late to the party, but I have finally got my post up! Not much autumn colour yet though…
I love those shots of the box + lavendar (which is a lovely combination all by itself) opposite the “puddles” of foliage. I also agree that the leaves of edibles can be every bit as beautiful, and the edible part is a lovely added extra. Thanks for hosting again!
No problem with being late, thank you for joining in this month Janet.
Hi Christina, I’m late too. But not too late I hope!
There’s so much more going on in your garden at the moment then mine, which is getting a bit battered by now.
What I would really like to know is what is the annual with the wonderful colour? I hope you manage to find out.
Thanks for hosting again.
Thanks for joining the meme, Janet, certainly worth seeing this post. I loved your combination of Euphorbia rubra and Heuchera Creme Brulee. I’m not usually so fond of the lighter colour Heuchera but this one looks amazing. Christina
Loving your garden what a stunning place. Will get out today and take some foliage photos and post as soon as possible.
I just discovered this meme…very nice. I hope I can stop by again in the future. I love your photos of the lovely October foliage.
http://thesagebutterfly.blogspot.com/2011/10/ggw-photo-contest.html
OK – bit late and a bit pathetic but I have done it!
🙂
http://www.artistsgarden.co.uk/2011/10/25/garden-bloggers-foliage-day-october-2011/
K
xx
Hi Karen, thanks for in GBFD however late. When I thought about this meme I was interested to see what other bloggers thought of as important foliage in thier gardens. As much as I love some spectacular leaves (as your Canna and the Ensete Maurelli (Red Abyssinian Banana), what is most important in my garden is the background, texture and form that many plants give. Some are just foliage but others also produce glorious flowers at certain times of year but also perform the task of supporting other flowers, either literarily or figuratively with their foliage. Next month may be a bit of a challenge but I hope you join in anyway even with one beautiful leaf.
Hi Chrisitina.The lavender looks sensational.Here there is very little in the foliage department-either its bashed by high winds and rain,or it blown into piles of brown leaves by the said wind. But your plants,and your olives, look lovely.
Hi Linda. thanks for the comments, and I do know about wind we had a week when it was almost impossible to go outside it was so windy. Christina
As always Christina I relish viewing your posts. I believe your unknown annual is Kochia?
Brilliant Patrick, you’re right. I checked it out on the netand it is definately the right plant. It wasn’t even in my RHS encyclopedia! Thank you.
Hope I’m not too late to post my GBFD take a look at my blog http://wellywoman.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/foliage-friday/. Thanks for the inspiration Christina.
Welcome to GBFD, even if you are a bit late, it was worth the wait! I wasn’t thinking of foliage gardens when I started this meme, but how foliage adds the backbone to the flowers. Very few plants flower for more than a month or so bu the foliage can be present all year or be different in different seasons. My silver and grey leaved plants are the main interest in my garden in August because it too hot for many plants to flower, they’re hibernating in mid-summer. This summer was a bit different as we had a wet July and so many more plants were blooming in August. The silvers shimmer in summer heat and glow in the cooler weather of spring and autumn. Christina