foliage rules

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The little plugs of moss purchased from Home Depot are beginning to have “presence” as they spread to form plush cushions.

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Let’s talk soon about record keeping. I failed to make note of this Oxalis, but isn’t it a delight? Here’s an update. I just returned from the HPSO sale, where most questions can be answered. It is O adenophylla, and my advise to you, if you like it, is to order bulbs. You will receive 10 or so bulbs for about the cost of one little plant in a 4″ container.

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Another plant traveling incognito, this sedum looks its best right now. I will pinch it back about the end of May to keep it like this for as long as possible. It keeps insisting on producing insipid flowers, the silly thing.

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In the constant search for viable ground covers, I was so pleased with this Acaena inermis ‘Purpurea’ that I promptly purchased three more, which just as promptly up and died. This first one is happy and spreading nicely, so I guess it’s worth another try.

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Color and texture provided by Sambucus negra ‘Eva’ casting her shadow across a carpet of Creeping Jenny and Hydrangea quercifolia just leafing out.

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More new leaves here. Hamamelis intermedia ‘Diane’ in the foreground, joining the remains of her recent flowering (surely someone can tell me the proper terminology-Jo?), looking very like tiny flowers themselves. Close to the ground, the deeply pleated leaves of Allium karativiense ‘Ivory Queen’ cradle the beginnings of future flowers. Like all babies, they are as cute as they will ever be.

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The peony foliage has come a long way since last month. Pretty soon the flowers will upstage it, but right now it is the star.

Pam, over at Digging will show you a whole different palette of foliage in her Texas garden, and provide links to a world of foliar fun.

7 thoughts on “foliage rules

  1. Love all your foliage, rivaling the flowers to come or past. I just saw that allium for the first time in someone’s garden, I love how blue the leaves are, amazing!

  2. Jo~I think you are trying to one-up me in the cryptic message department.

    Wendy~I am kind of surprised at how much of the ruddy palette shows up in spring. I always thought it was a fall thing.

    Karen~I can hardly wait to see what some of the new alliums will be like. So many to choose from.

  3. The moss is happy. We have five plugs that are spreading into each other likewise. I love that oxalis, but I ‘d have thought they’d start from rhizomes. Either way, bulbs or roots are a great way to get them. The hamamelis has such great pleated leaves!

  4. Megan~This is the second year for the Oxalis, and it seems to be spreading ever so slightly.

    Jane~They looked like bulbs…very small. I am really into pleated leaves of late.

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