Friday, March 16, 2012

Fantastic Foliage Follow Up

First time for me to participate in the foliage postings that are hosted by Pam at Digging.  I love foliage variation in the garden.
The walkway to the front door is lined with Acorus gramineus 'Ogon', Sweet Flag Grass.   It is in bloom right now.

Many of the shrubs around the house are Gardenia 'Frost Proof'.  The deer leave them alone and I love the blooms.  Hoping it blooms a lot more this year.

 Many of the plants along the lower side of our property have color and foliage interest.    We have no neighbors now, but I imagine there will be someone in the future.  It is my intent to have as many mature evergreen shrubs and trees along the property line as I can.    One of the newest additions is Callitropsis glabra 'Blue Ice'.  Great blue foliage and red stems, gorgeous!   At maturity should be about 25 feet tall and 10 feet wide.


 Nicely complementing the Blue Ice is Loropetalum 'Ever Red'.  I shared the flowers in the last post, check out this burgundy foliage!  Such a win win plant. It should be about 6 x 6 feet. So far the deer have left it alone, hope that continues.

Another blue foliage tree flanks the other side of the Loropetalum.  This one is Cupressus Arizonica var. glabra 'Carolina Sapphire'.  A small tree now, but will be a light feathery blue pyramid.  It will grow 30- 40 feet tall and about 6- 10 feet wide.  Both blue trees are about 4 feet tall right now and kind of thinly branched, but give them a few years.

Another colorful plant is the Chameacyparis pisifera 'Vintage Gold'. Similar to Gold Mop cypress but this one is supposed to stay about 3-5 feet tall.  The foliage is more finely cut than Gold Mop.  Since this is along the open side, if it grows taller, it is fine, there is plenty of room.

Another yellow hued shrub is Thuja plicata 'Goldy'. It is supposed to get 15- 20 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide.  When all these plants are young, the line of them looks a little sparse.  I am giving them all the room they need to be a full glorious specimen.  Goldy has had a bit of burn (winter? or dogs?) but am hoping it will take off this year.

Looking from 'Goldy' back along the line you see lots of color.  Most of the color is foliage.  Gotta love it!

Our property line is at the edge of the 'wild' on the right.  The more these trees and shrubs grow, the better defined our side yard will be.

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

23 comments:

  1. You are smart to be planting that property line now and thinking ahead to when you have neighbors. You have so many pretty colored foliage plants and trees. I wish Gardenias would grow here, even the frost proof ones don't do well here.

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    1. Catherine, thanks, I hope we don't have to worry about neighbors for a long time. I am sorry you can't have gardenias there, they are pretty nice.

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  2. Lots of nice evergreens. I agree with Catherine, that planting your property line is a smart idea. Spring is coming on fast!

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    1. Karin, thanks. I like having evergreens in the garden for structure and for privacy!!

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  3. Trees are definitely good for defining the yard-not to mention all the birds and wildlife they attract. Yours definitely draw the eye! I have 'Carolina Sapphire' here and that little baby started aa a 3 foot tall twig in 2003 and has now grown to over 15+ feet tall and about 10 feet around. It is a beauty for texture and the birds like to nest in it. The other blue one you have sounds interesting. I've never heard of it before.

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    1. Tina, wow!! I can't wait for my 'Carolina Sapphire' to really take hold...it struggled last summer.

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  4. I love your foliage especially those blue evergreens...I also have ogon in some wet areas and it loves it...

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    1. Donna, thanks, I sure enjoy the different colors of these evergreens. Ogon is a happy plant in my garden!

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  5. I love foliage days, I find so many plants that I haven't heard of and want to get to know. Your blue cedar isn't something I've heard of but love the colour of those needles.

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    1. Marguerite, I imagine my blue evergreens would do well in your area, maybe? Super color for sure.

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  6. Ever Red and Goldy are my favorites here! Different colors, shapes, sizes - you have it! And contrast! Our NW garden guru, Ciscoe Morris, believes that contrast is a main feature of a beautiful garden.

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    1. Tatyana, Good to know they are good ones to have! Goldy was a new one for this area. Yes, have lots of contrast, glad to see it is a good feature according to Ciscoe Morris.

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    2. Is it true that you have the A/C on? ... We just had some hail here.

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  7. So many blooms in your garden, Janet (just read your last post, too). Your garden has really taken off in the short time you have lived here; you have certainly accomplished a lot. Love the blue glabras, but I'm really enticed by the Loropetalum--gosh, what gorgeous blooms and foliage! I wasn't familiar with this shrub at all, so I had to look it up; drat, wouldn't you know it isn't hardy past zone 6:) Oh well, I'll just admire yours. You're keeping "the wild" at bay just beautifully.

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    1. Rose, Glad you stopped by. Yes, my garden is really coming together. Sorry that Loropetalum isn't hardy to your area, such a nice plant, I will post more pictures for you to see.

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  8. I love, love, love blue foliage and am a huge fan of Arizona cypress 'Blue Ice.' I haven't tried the 'Carolina Sapphire' only because I don't have room. Your golden foliage is beautiful too. Thanks for posting for Foliage Follow-Up, Janet.

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    1. Pam, I think you NEED 'Carolina Sapphire' my Carolina friend! Make room! hahaha. I love the new growth of the golden ones, they really are striking.

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  9. Janet,
    The Gardenia looks great, what is your secret. We just moved a sickly one, I think it is doomed. I don't think we'll have any new hellebores this year. If your ever up here near Durham look me up I'll give you lots of baby hellebores.

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    1. Randy, Lots of water for the gardenias! I have had about four that died, lots of water but not wet feet. May take you up with the Hellebores!

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  10. I never thought to get closeups of Chameacyparis or Thuja. They really are interesting texturally. They are so common place here that they get overlooked and are under appreciated. I am not familiar with Blue Ice, but that is a nice plant too.

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    1. Donna, I love the closeups of both. Really shows the shape of the tiny growth.

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  11. Janet, I particularly admire the textures and colors of your evergreens. Though many of them will one day be huge, there is an intimate beauty to their foliage structure that needs to be appreciated up close as you have done here.

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  12. thanks Jennifer! While these shrubs are small, appreciating them up close is the best thing.

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