Evergreen shopping trip before the winter ends
Thursday 26 February 2009 - Filed under Plants
Very shortly, nursery trips are about to change over to the spring frenzy. Everywhere, it’ll be people and flowers and fresh new deciduous growth that everyone’s hungry for come spring. I’m enjoying the last quiet weeks of winter, soaking up the subtle charms of broadleaf evergreens that line nursery shelves right now while the crowds are away on cold and rainy days. I’m much more patient with winter than I was in my first years gardening, now that I have a higher population of evergreens keeping the garden green, but there’s always more to be done to bring the garden to life.
Convulvus, aka silver bush, aka morning glory bush is a good at catching the light on the edges of the fuzzy leaves. I love the look of silver plants on their own, but I have a hard time figuring out good planting combinations in the garden. They seem to clash with gold foliage, which I can’t resist as a repeating element. Silver goes well with dark green or blackish-purplish foliage, but never looks quite as good as gold, so silver plants always ends up losing prime planting positions in my garden. However, isolated on its own, this silver foliage is stunning.
Yucca linearfolia also brings some of the silver foliage dilemma, but it has good architectural form that defies the feeling of winter. It gets to 4′ in 10 years. It looks like a plant for a warmer climate than the Northwest. In fact, it looks like a yucca I have that I have to overwinter in the house, but it’s hardy to zone 6. I’m assuming excellent drainage is a requirement.
The variety in hydrangeas continues to amaze me. This one, Hydrangea integrigolia, is an evergreen climber that clings with arial roots, so it would be good against a wall. I love the crooked, wandering stems.
Holly leaf osmanthus, Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Sasaba’ has great little layered and stacked spiky leaves.
I see Fatshedera showing up more and more every year, and I don’t have one yet, but I think I have a spot for this one. Mostly a vine, a little bit shrubby, big enough to stake a claim beside the fence at the entrance to the back yard. You don’t get enough chances in gardening for instant impact that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, but a $35 plant this size just might need to find its way into my garden.
2009-02-26 » megan
26 February 2009 @ 2:38 pm
Regardless of combination dilemma, you bought one of each, right? They are all so lovely and unique.
26 February 2009 @ 7:37 pm
One of each for me too, please. Winter interest didn’t happen so much for me this year, need to get on it soon as you say. Do you take a break from nurseries from March until October?
26 February 2009 @ 10:30 pm
Melanthia – I’ve been restrained, I didn’t buy anything yet. I still have a load of plants from last fall I’ve yet to permanently plant. Once I get them in the ground, I’m back in the game.
Karen – I never take breaks, but I try to slow down.
27 February 2009 @ 5:53 am
[...] Foliage That Will Piss You Off It Is So Cool - We know Megan @ Nestmaker isn’t all that into blooms… but she is a sucker for some killer foliage. I saw this on her flickr before she posted this – so technically I’m lying if I told you I read this yet… because I haven’t. I was going to get the link and talk about the pics I saw and there was this post. So it got subbed in. Sue me. I will read it in a minute… let me finish. [...]