Placing Plants for Maximum Impact

Foliage, foliage, foliage, it's all the rage. Ok, so you bought some plants with cool foliage. Now what are you going to do with them?

When I first tried combining foliage I made a big mistake. I chose spots for the plants strictly based on where I thought the foliage would look best. What I forgot to take into account is what conditions does that plant like. As a result, it took many tries before I successfully grew Ligularia because I kept putting it in full, dry shade.

In the opening photo you can see where I chose to plant my new Astilbe. The plants around it might not have different colored foliage but they do have different shapes or textures. There's a Pulmonaria, several Hosta, a pair of daylily seedlings I couldn't bare to part with and Liriope 'Silver Dragon' just emerging in this spot. I'm not at all sold on that Liriope, it doesn't look good until late in the season and it appears to me that there are two runner shoots appearing between my bowling shoes.


Here you can see the Astilbe in the pot. I did quite a bit of walking around before deciding on where to place it. One lesson I've learned with Astilbe is that they like more sun than shade and a nice regular watering so I need to choose a spot where our sprinkler system reaches.


A few feet further down in the semi shade border is a spot that I think was successfully planted. The foliage all combines nicely in my opinion. The only thing I'd change is the Aquilegia vulgaris that seeded right in the front against the stone. I just googled this plant as I'm not sure of it's name and came up with a hit on Frances at Faire garden. Hi Frances!

This is the spot I chose for one of those purple Ligularias. It's so dark it's hard to see it there in the middle but as it grows it should really pop against all those lighter foliaged plants.

The second Ligularia 'Osiris Fantaisie' plant went in this location. I have major dreams of that Lamium growing up to the base of the purple Ligularia. The Lamium is a slow growing one, the name long lost but I wish I could find more of it for sale.


Here's a bit closer look at the Lamium, it has a very white leaf and a lovely pink flower. Another plant that I'm just crazy about is in this photo. It's in the top center and kind of looks like an Astilbe but it's Aruncus aethusifolius.

A very dwarf Aruncus, it holds it's form looking like a perfectly clipped little ball. I get a nice amount of seedlings from the parent plant, maybe 3 or 4 a year and have learned to put them in places where they can grow on. Now I've got at least a dozen of these perfect balls in various parts of the garden and soon I'll have enough to be able to share on a regular basis.


Last year I bought this specialty Polygonatum 'Striatum' (Solomon's seal) with twisted leaves. I'll hold my opinion on this until it clumps up a bit but at least I know it's quite hardy as both plants I purchased have come back this year.


Here's a great combination area. The Hakonechloa 'All Gold', a Geranium sanguinium and that Aruncus aethusifolius. The little gold in the foreground is a piece of a Hosta I rescued from a totally dessicated root bound area.

Out front in the sun border I continue to add pieces of yellow and green variegated Liriope. This is such a great plant in my garden. The only thing I have to remember is it doesn't look like much this early in the season but as soon as that foliage starts growing it's a winner.
Several pots of Amsonia 'Blue Ice' were planted next to the various Dicentras (Bleeding Hearts). The Dicentras have already been blooming for quite some time but I hope that the Amsonias will join the show as the Dicentras are winding down and then the Amsonia foliage will fill in some of the gaps. Only time will tell if this is a winning combination.

Well, I'm off to the races. Actually, I'm off to the elections. Today is the day for our school district's budget vote and vote for new candidates for the Board of Education. I'm running for one of the openings and will spend most of the day at the voting area shaking hands and introducing myself to people. Unfortunately we are expecting a seasonly cold and rainy day so I just might look like a bay man in my yellow slicker and galoshes. At least I won't be giving up another spectacular day in the garden.

Till tomorrow,

Melanie