Thursday, December 06, 2007

Some Foliage From This Year

Some Foliage From This Year

Velvet Centaurea
Centaurea cineraria 'Colchester White'
Dusty Miller, Centaurea gymnocarpa

I had a couple of foliage pictures from the garden this year and since enjoyed growing these plants I thought I would pass them along. This Dusty Miller was great and I tried something a little different with it. Instead of intermingling it with my annuals I planted it separately and was happy that I did. It was quite a splash of color. This plant is much taller than the traditional Dusty Miller I have been growing in years past. It is an annual here in Connecticut but can make the winter in USDA Zone 8. I think I will try some more next year.


Heucherella
X Heucherella 'Stoplight'
(hew-ker-REL-uh)
Synonyms: Foamy Bells

This is still a new plant for me as I planted it in late summer. It was still looking okay when I walked by it the other day so it can take a bit of cold. So far I have enjoyed this plant and I will report back on my experience with it.

Since it is a relatively new plant I decided to look it up and found out that it was developed by Terra Nova Nurseries of Oregon. Every thing I saw said it had much better leaf color and bigger leaves than ‘Sunspot’. Since I have never seen ‘Sunspot’ that isn’t much of a reference to me.


Here is another silver plant called Cut Leaf White Sage (Artemisia stelleriana). You can see it has several other synonyms and common names. The flower buds are beginning to form in this picture and I usually pinch them off as the foliage is much more attractive than the flowers. ‘Silver Brocade’ is nice since it has the rounded leaves and a short (10-12 inches) and bushy habit. It is also more of a perennial that the Dusty Miller. It grows in a wide variety of soils but does require good drainage. This cultivar was introduced by the University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens. That is a wonderful garden if you have a chance to visit.

Synonyms: Ghost Plant, Wormwood, Dusty Miller, Mugwort, Beach Sage, 'Boughton Silver'

4 comments:

Andrea said...

Interesting post and beautiful foliage.

Digital Flower Pictures said...

thanks andrea. these plants can help brighten up the garden.

Priscilla George said...

I love dusty millers. I have some seeds I will be planting out next year along with phlox of sheep. I love the look of heuchera and need to try some. That might just be my next purchase. I have never heard of the cut leaf white sage. I love the silver leaf foliage plants. The cut leaf white sage will for sure go on my list of must haves.

Unknown said...

Wow. What great foliage pictures, as usual. I can't wait to see how that heucherella does for you over the next year... it keeps tempting me. :)