Design with colored foliage

July 9, 10:18 PMBackyard Living ExaminerJane Gates

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 Design with colored foliage (Photo by Jane Gates)

One of the best ways to assure color in the garden all year, no matter what season, is to get some of that color in foliage rather than depending exclusively on flowers. Colored foliage can be either ‘self’, meaning a single color, or variegated, with more than one color. Curiously enough, some green plants with a random white or yellow variegation like marbling get their coloring from a viral infection that has no adverse effect on the health of the plant. More regularly-patterned colors are usually genetically programmed. You can find a variety of colored leaves in plants of all sizes. Most plants with a lot of yellow or white require shading in the inland areas. Since the lighter colors denote an absence of chlorophyll, these plants burn in very bright sun where humidity is low.  You can design with colored foliage to make your garden more exciting.

One of the most popular trees with deep purple foliage is the ornamental plum. It is a very decorative and drought-tolerant small tree, Growing from 10 to 20 feet tall, it is easy to care for and adds a dark color note in the landscape. Sometimes an individual tree will bear fruit even thought these plums are bred to be fruitless. The fruits are usually small and not particularly edible. A bush that can eventually grow into tree proportions if it has enough water, reasonable soil and time, is the Hopseed Bush (Dodonea purpurea). This one can fill in with height or width and offers foliage with a strong red tinge. An easy to grow shrub with shiny green leaves that are bright red when young, is the Photinia. Varieties can be bush to tree sizes. More interesting trees with fanciful leaf shapes that shade toward purple are the Acacia baileyana (with yellow flowers) and the Cotinus (purple smoke tree). Both do well all over the Los Angeles area.

Phormiums, commonly known as New Zealand Flax, come in a wonderful rainbow of colors. Their sword-shaped leaves are a delightful contrast to the mounding form of most other plants. But their prettiest colors can burn out if exposed to really intense sun. Many ornamental grasses like the Miscanthus or Carix come with colored stripes, bands, spots or flush with contrasting blues, reds, oranges, yellow, pinks or purples.  Use these colorful plants for vertical accents in the landscape and to wave seductively in our breezy weather.

Some variegated varieties of common plants like Agapanthus and Lirope are easy to grow. The variegated society garlic, being a clump of tiny bulbs handles almost any position in the garden. Other showy colored foliage plants that are not fussy are the many varieties of Heuchera or the tropical looking Canna lilies.  Design these colorful plants in with your other flowers to create contrast and variety.

Many native and drought tolerant plants grow grey, whitish and even fuzzy leaves to deal with the bright sunshine. These provide an excellent foil for bright and dark greens.  The Teucrium fruticans azurea (Germander) grows into a soft grey shrub that blooms with sky blue flowers in the middle of the winter. Also try the salvia chamaedryoides with its on foot height, bright blue flowers and its almost white foliage.  There are many more colorfully-leaved plants to chose from, many with colorful flowers as a bonus. So whether your garden is in flower or not, you can design your garden with colored foliage to keep your garden lively all year ‘round!