I have used this months Garden Bloggers Foliage Day to concentrate on all the new shoots that are bursting everywhere around the garden. Lots of plants have been cut back and buds are now opening with a promise of what is to come in the summer. Other plants and shrubs are waking up after their sleep over the winter and showing that they haven’t died in the frost!
The purple Berberis has looked pretty dead all winter so I’m rather relieved to find all these lovely new shoots all over the bush.
Another shrub which has looked dead all winter is Philadelphus Belle Etoile, just think of that wonderful perfume in a few months time!
Physocarpus Dart’s Gold stays this wonderful colour all summer, my bush is now about 6ft x 6ft and makes a wonderful splash of gold in a fairly shaded border.
Having had all their old dead flower heads removed, the new shoots on the Hydrangeas are ready to form their new flower buds, they look so neat and tidy having been spruced up after the winter, they make such a wonderful show all summer long.
All the Buddleja bushes have been reduced back the their first buds as they grow at least 6ft in one year. We had our first Tortoiseshell butterfly the other day, but no flowers on these bushes for them to enjoy!
I think I have shown this one before, but I think Pulmonaria longifolia has such beautiful foliage, it deserves to be in again!
Seeding around all the shady borders and the woodland is Mileum effusum aureum. They certainly brighten up a dark corner, just have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t spread too far, usually I remove the flower spike to prevent this.
What looks like a load of messy grassy leaves, is the foliage of Fritillaria meleagris or the Snake’s Head Fritillary, just another week or so and they will all be standing upright with their chequered flowers of purple and white. We are getting more and more each year as we sprinkle the seed around, must put some in the bog garden this year to start the flowering year there. Can you see the masses of seedling leaves, are these weeds or hopefully seedlings growing from last years seeds, will have to wait and see!
The foliage of Colchicum is so shiny, such a lovely dark green, these leaves will die down before the flowers arrive in the autumn and the time to move them is when the leaves have turned yellow. The bulbs that we have are multiplying so rapidly that we have to move some of them each year to new places.
Another pulmonaria, this time with silver leaves, sorry, have forgotten the name of this one, but the leaves always look so beautiful.
The foliage of Yew forms a nice contrast in the garden, to all the other foliage. We have 2 large yew trees, one on each side of the garden, and it is only the last few years that we have noticed that yew seedlings are now popping up everywhere! Yew hedge anyone!!
Brunnera Jack Frost leaves will get larger as the weeks go by, such a beautiful leaf, and the bright blue flowers look absolutely stunning with them.
Hemerocallis foliage is showing all over the garden and looking nice and fresh, it will get much taller as the weeks go by.
I know, I’ve shown this one before but it has such a gorgeous leaf, I had to include it. Such a useful leaf for flower arranging, Arum italicum pictum.
Quite a few of my Meconopsis have survived the winter, thank goodness. Some didn’t survive, I think due to us not having as much rain as we normally do, they do like to be kept moist and I didn’t think to water them over the winter months! Just love the golden hairs that cover the stem and leaves!!
Piercing through the soil in the bog garden are the spears of Euphorbia palustris which will be topped by the usual acid green flowers of the Euphorbia family. The leaves are beautiful in their own right , before the flowers appear and help to furnish the bog garden while we are waiting for all the other flowers to start.
Beautiful glaucous foliage of a Tree Paeony, quite a few buds this year, so I will be watching with baited breath as the flowers are so absolutely gorgeous!
The ruby red foliage of the herbacious paeony contrasts with everything around it. Weeding to be done, that is the next job!
Viburnum bodnantense New Dawn has been flowering all winter on bare stems, now the leaves have come to join the pink flowers and they look so well together.
Lots of new growth on the Lonicera nitida hedge, soon be time to get the shears out and give it a good haircut.
Allium foliage contrasting with the green foliage around it, lovely shape and lovely colour.
Actinidia kolomikta leaves showing a hint of the pink colouring which will come soon and be joined by white variegation, an amazing climber, a relative of the Kiwi fruit. It’s fascinating watching the various colours changing on the leaves.
Caltha palustris is gradually colonising the end of the pond. This is the large kingcup which grows to about 2 ft and has bright yellow flowers.
No, not a ladybird trying to hide, but Rheum palmatum starting to show one of its leaves!! Slowly the leaf will unfurl until it is huge, green on top and purple beneath.
Spirea Gold Flame has been cut back as you can see, must cut further back or that little stump will just die back. Leaves are a lovely colour at this time of year.
And last, but not least, the fabulous colour 0f the new rose leaves all over the garden. Such a lovely colour, wish they stayed like this!
So many super leaves to choose from, didn’t want to leave any out!
Thanks to Christina for hosting Garden Bloggers Foliage Day, if you would like to see lots more beautiful foliage, then please go to….
www.myhesperidesgarden.wordpress.com.
Thank you for joining in GBFD this month, you have so much beautiful new foliage and as you say giving hope of all the other good things to come. It is hard to pick a favourite of all you high-lighted but perhaps Physocarpus Dart’s Gold fulfilled my idea of spring foliage and you say it remains this wonderful colour all summer, brilliant. I’ve managed to add a link to this post from your comment. Christina
The Physocarpus Dart’s Gold is a really super shrub Christina, doesn’t like too much sun or heat otherwise it burns, mine only has sun from about 3pm onwards, maybe you would have to plant it in a more shady area.
Thanks for once again doing my link for me, one day soon I will learn how to do it myself!!!
what an inspiring uplifting collection of foliage. I get such a thrill when I see a tiny new shoot suddenly appearing unexpectedly, especially on a plant you thought had given up the ghost. I suppose the pulmonaria is beautiful, but I’m afraid I don’t appreciate it, I always feel it looks sickly like it has rust. (hope I’m not being disloyal to a dear cyberfriend and a popular plant in writing this). My very very favourite is probably yours too Pauline, since you chose it to head the post. Looking like cheerful butterflies, saying, hi mum, here we are! And that Rheum, that you managed to photograph while it was briefly disguised as a ladybird, also takes my fancy. I’m so inspired, I’d like to go into the garden right now and look for new buds but I can’t – it’s the middle of the night!
So lovely to hear from you Catmint, hope you are feeling better, are you home again. I do hope so ?! Don’t worry about the pulmonaria, we all have our likes and dislikes, wouldn’t life be boring if we were all the same!! Thank you for all your lovely comments, do take care and get properly better soon.
Hi,
I really, really need to try to remember to participate in this meme. Aghhhh and I know I’ll be saying that every single month too! 😀
I’m really looking forward to Hawthorn leaves, they’re the most beautiful green when they first emerge! I always look forward to it 🙂
Hawthorn leaves are so fresh when they first appear aren’t they Liz, the lanes where we are, gradually turn green when they emerge and tell everyone that winter is well and truly over. Will look forward to your foliage post in the future!!
It is incredible isn’t it one minute we’re in winter and then the next everything is coming back to life. I noticed some flower heads on some alliums the other day which seems quite early. It feels like the garden is changing every day at the moment and I can’t keep up with it.
I agree WW, I wish I could shout ..stop!…everything is happening too fast!! Flower heads on Alliums, that is early! Have been cutting back and there are ladybirds everywhere, never seen so many altogether before, does this mean I have loads of aphids for them, I hope not!!
Love, love all the colours in the spring, everything so shiny and new (until it starts to get eaten, lol). The pulmonaris is Majeste, I have it in my garden as well, it always looks wonderful. Very excited, next GBBD I shall be in the air, finally flying home to my garden.
Thanks for the name of the Pulmonaria Deborah, must try and remember it! No wonder you are excited at going home, you will have all the beauty of spring to enjoy, what a wonderful time of year to be returning!!
I have been studying your foliage for a while! Nothing gets my garden juices flowing like a beautiful leaf! I have been considering arum for my own garden, and seeing yours confirms that it would be a beautiful addition to my woodlands.
Arum would be lovely in your woodland Deb, the birds will help to spread it around, and the leaf is so lovely! I think foliage is just as important as flowers, that way you have something interesting all the time!
Hi Pauline! You always have a lot going on on your garden! Actinidia kolomikta has been in my whish list for ages, as well as brunnera ‘Jack Frost’! I’m only waiting for the trees to bulk up and have some reliable shadow, or I’m going to see all that beautiful leaves burned by the sun!
You are right: berberis always look pretty dead in winter, even with a close look but at the end they alway menage to come back to life beautifully!
Actinidia kolomikta has long been a favourite of mine Alberto, with its fantastic leaves, did a post about it last May. Sometimes I feel that if the foliage is stunning, who needs flowers!! Brunnera Jack Frost is another which looks good even without the lovely blue flowers, hope your shade soon grows to protect them!!
So much promise all around Pauline! Really glad to see your Meconopsis have made it through, always a worry. I have some seedlings just germinated as a back up! The Arum leaves truly are beautiful.
My Meconopsis seedlings are doing really well too Bertie, but it’s always a bit of a worry until I see the old plants again. I started off with just one Arum plant and the birds have spread it round the garden for me, they seem to put it in just the right spot each time!