The title of this month’s GBFD post says it all really. When I went into the garden to photograph foliage this morning I thought it might be difficult this month to take images that didn’t feature flowers rather than foliage. But then as I walked around I was reminded why I had wanted to start GBFD; Foliage is EVERYTHING in a garden. In some seasons it might be all there is, but when it is spring and the garden shouts with colour and tells me it is truly spring it is the foliage that makes the blooms sing in a harmonious way.
The garden is full of colour, maybe more colour than at any other time of year; yet without the foliage the garden would be nothing!
The structure of the formal garden works all year. Now supporting the white tulips in the front two beds
Structure, form and shades of green are enough to create a beautiful garden
Box needing to be pruned give a slightly wild feel; the pale green new foliage is too lovely for me to want to remove it
The slope is green in a different way; Stipa tenuissima waves in the wind
Silver foliage is a strong part of my Mediterranean garden, the bright spring light makes the silver leaves shimmer and also make a wonderful contrast to Tulip Negrita.
Various Artemisia and other silver foliage plants
Sedum Purple Emperor glows against a santolina
The purple and almost jade foliage of the Sedum is stunning when it is new
Sedum Matrona has pink edges to its leaves which at present are an attraction to many snails
Festuca glauca highlights the deep purple of Heuchera ‘Obsidion’
The bright spring light bleaches the true deep colour of the Heuchera
Heuchera ‘Patty’s Plum’
Remember sometimes to turn your images into tones of grey to help you understand the forms and texture that your plants are creating.
Some large round leaves would be a good addition here.
I think the form of the foliage here, works well with strappy Iris in the foreground, with Cotinus, santolina and Phlomis and a tall stand of Cerinthe in the background.
New foliage on a Mahonia
There is of course the pattern and colour you enjoy only when getting close.
A lot of new foliage is pink or red and not green. I think this is just amazing
and the foliage of wild lupin is a wonderful pattern
Nandina domestica’s new foliage is as colourful as any flower
Hedges are very important for the form and texture they provide in the garden, the back of my garden Has Photinia, giving orangey-red new foliage which emphasises the colour of Tulips Brown Sugar and gives a good background to the rest of the garden always.
The large tree on the left is a White Mulberry
Please feel free to use GBFD in your own way; to maybe highlight one plant that is making an impact this month in your garden or to show the combinations that work for you. Please post and add a link to your comment. I really look forward to seeing what is happening in other gardens. I hope you are enjoying spring as much as I am.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Foliage is definitely the star in your garden! All the wondrous colors of new growth, the variety of forms and textures, I love it all! Flowers are wonderful accessories, but a garden needs beautiful foliage for coverage. Your photos are great. I am wondering – what is the lovely silver plant featured in the third photo down in the section about silver foliage in your Mediterranean garden?
Hi Debbie, the wonderful foliage that looks like machine embriodery is Tanecetum densum, it requires very free draining soil and never needs irrigating not even in last year’s drought. It is spreading nicely and I want to try to take some cuttings, I think basal cuttings will work. Christina
Great tutorial on the use of foliage to give color and texture to the garden.
Thanks Charlie. I am passionate about foliage. If you don’t think about it enough, I believe you’ll never be satisfies with your garden. Christina
Your foliage is in full form…mine is just starting but it is all lovely.
Here’s my link from last week:
http://gardenseyeview.com/2013/04/15/the-first-colors-of-spring/
Thanks for joining again this month Donna, I’m pleased you now have some foliage and that spring is arriving for you. Christina
Hi Christina,
Thank you for hosting GBFD. Your approach to foliage is great!
I haven’t noticed the beautiful pattern of the lupin unless you posted it.
And turning images into tones of grey is helpful to review my own garden. I tried it right away:)
I also posted GBFD.
http://lavieenrose0927.blogspot.jp/2013/04/garden-bloggers-foliage-day-april-2013.html
Thank you for giving me an enjoyable opportunity!
Thanks for joining GBFD for the first time Keity. I loved your images of your foliage they look like Japanese paintings, very minimalist and serene, beautiful. Christina
Love all those different shades and shapes. 😀
Hi Christina, lovely pics, as usual. I like your heucheras, I can see you keep them in full sun among rather drought tolerant plants, am I correct? I’d like to increase the number of my heucheras but I still don’t feel confident enough to put them in full sun and in dry spots, any advice? 🙂
They’re in the sun in winter and spring but then it’s shady under the Mulbery during summer. They don’t mind dry conditions (in fact I think they prefer it but strong direct sun isn’t good for them. In your more northen garden they might be OK, here they would shrivel. Christina
I guess I’m not north (or brave) enough to try them in full sun but I’ll try and get some more this year. Maybe one of those with fancy sweet names involving caramel, chocolate and various kind of pastries…
You’re right they do have ‘delicious’ names. Christina
Christina, the season is yours! Everything looks grand and your formal garden is captivating. What is the plant in the 3rd photo of the silver foliage group? Interesting texture. Thanks for hosting Christina.
This is my pbmGarden GBFD contribution.
Debbie wanted to know the same thing. It’s Tanecetum densum; see below for my comments about it. Thanks for joining GBFD again this month Susie, nice choice of plant for your post. Christina
Your introduction today is so appropriate, Christina – and what a good idea to use images in grey tones to look at the overall structure. Lots of lovely photos , and some intersting silver foliage that I shall look into further. Thanks for hosting. My contribution is at
http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/gbfd-hairy-beasties/
Thanks for joing in this month Cathy. I’ve posted about the silver foliage plants several times if you need for info. or if you have any questions about them I’m happy to try to answer them. Christina
This is just a fantastic post on something important that people don’t really write about as much as it merits. Texture and foliage colour are magical, and much more important overall than blossoms when it comes to the garden as a whole.
Exactly, that’s why I started GBFD to celebrate the foliage in our gardens and help us appreciate it more. Christina
I might be doing a talk about gardening at an upcoming area home show and I’m thinking of talking about how to use foliage colour and texture to make a better garden–in more engaging words, of course! It’s such an overlooked side of the picture for most people.
Impressive! I love your formal garden, the various shade of green working off each other certainly does provide interest at any time of the year.
Silvery foliage doesn’t do well in my garden, the soil is too moist and nothing with silver foliage thrives!
New heuchera foliage is just forming in my own garden.
I had intended joining in your meme for the first time this month but it is so windy out there I’m having difficulty taking decent pictures! There’s always next month!
Thank you for your comments, you can always post a bit late – I know about wind in the garden, there is hardly a day here when there isn’t any wind. Christina
Very thought provoking. You are right, of course, but my first thought would be that it is the flowers that make the garden. I don’t think I consider foliage enough nor the ranges of tones you could create.
Flowers are the icing on the cake but without the cake ….? Christina
Hi Christina, that is a real masterclass on using foliage well in a garden, and slightly spooky given my just-written post. Lots of ideas here that I plant to shamelessly steal. Thank you for hosting!
All ideas are available to use. Sharing ideas makes blogging such a wonderful medium. Christina
Oops, that should be “plan to … steal”, though a rather apt slip of the fingers…
beautiful foliage Christina, your garden looks beautiful, as to your last sentence from where I am I can only say ‘what spring!’ Frances
From the temperature yesterday and the grey skies, it doesn’t feel much like spring here either, but we have had one week of nice days so I suppose I shouldn’t complain. Christina
thanks for hosting Christina, I did go out this morning to see it there was any foliage and found more than I realised, thanks for giving me the push, Frances
my link: http://islandthreads.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/foliage-3/
Well done! I really do know what it is like with strong wind – impossible to take photos. Thank you for taking time to join in. Christina
I love the shaggy look of your formal garden with its fresh spring growth breaking the lines, and you have a stunning tapestry of greens, silvers, purples and greys throughout your garden.
Thank you, I am enjoying all the colour, both foliage and flowers. Christina
Cristina il tuo giardino è di quelli che ti lasciano qualcosa dentro l’anima, molto evocativo; anche nel mio giardino in costruzione molte sono le piante a foglia grigia, tra le tappezzanti ho provato la stachys e mi chiedevo come mai non l’ho vista nel tuo; viene descritta come pianta molto versatile in realtà in estate da me ha avuto qualche problema e non riuscivo a capire il perché, visto che si adatta molto bene alla siccità e al pieno sole! Avrei tante domande, ma per il momento mi fermo qui.
Ti ringrazia per i tuoi sentimenti Anna Maria. Avevo anch’io la Stachys ma non ha mai fatto fiori e i fogli non erano sempre belli. Ho comparato altre e avevo intensione di metterle però sono ancora in vasi e durante inverno le foglie sono brutte, quindi sono indeciso dove di disporcele. Se vuoi visitare da sola, mi fa molto piacere rispondere alle tue domande. Christina
Lovely leaves going on in your garden. My current post is on epimediums which have some of the best leaves around: http://carolynsshadegardens.com/2013/04/18/epimediums-my-collection/.
I do agree with you about Epimedium foliage, it is beautiful and your post is very informative. Christina
Ah I can really tell that you’re enjoying spring! What a wonderful post. I’ve been enjoying spring too and what with work, gardening and a new job I’ve just had no time for reading my favourite blogs but what a post to come back to! I adore your photos and particularly this statement “Structure, form and shades of green are enough to create a beautiful garden”, I completely agree. I’ve seen so many bare gardens this winter/early spring and it’s so disappointing when there are in fact many plants that provide colour and interest in those months. I adore your Heucheras, they’re such a wonderful plant as are the silver foliage plants. You know I was driving up the motorway after my holiday in the south and the verges were actually really stunning colours and textures, colour from dog wood, texture and shapes from dead teasel and all manner of colours from the trees in their various states of brown, red, purple and green. Nature really is a wonderful thing and when we harness that, like you have done, it looks really spectacular 🙂
Thank you Anna. I’m always happy to find a kindred spirit especially where foliage is concerned. I really think it is where a lot of people go wrong with their gardens, they think onle of the flowers and then don’t understand why they are dissatisfied with the results. Don’t get me wrong, I love flowers and they give me enormous pleasure but without good structure and foliage the garden would be empty most of the time. Christina
Really enjoyed your selection of foliage this month Christina, you always have something really interesting to show us. Sorry to have missed Foliage Day this year, we have just got back from holiday and there is so much catching up to do!
I missed your post as it is always full of lovely things. I hope you had a good holiday and that it is truely spring in your garden now. Christina
http://eefalsebay.blogspot.com/2013/05/lighten-our-darkness.html
I am late for April, and early for May
I’ll make sure I add your link to May’s GBFD. Christina
Hi Christina. This is my first visit to your blog and very enjoyable it was too. I agree about foliage and texture, they are so important. I think we tend to get fixated on colour at this time of year especially, especially as everything has been brown and GREY here in the UK for the whole long winter !
I’m glad you enjoyed what you saw and hope too that you’ll be back, maybe you will join in GBFD in May. Christina
Hi Christina!
Sorry for the late arrival to the post, but was wondering if you could enlighten me on the first plant in the silver group?
Many thanks!
David
Hi David, the plant you’re looking at is Artemisia ‘Valerie Finnis’. This is an Artemisia that dies back during the winter but is hardy in free draining soil.
Fantastic. She’s a beaut!