Gardening with Gita
To Add Pizzazz, Grow Plants with Colorful Foliage
By
May 28, 2008 - 11:00:46 AM

It’s not easy being a gardener: With new cultivars and varieties being offered every growing season, choices have now become endless, not to mention the challenges that come with them. And intriguingly, more the choices, the more eager we get to try the newest introductions.

Take color of the foliage, for instance. Time was whenever we thought about leaves, we basically envisioned green. Not anymore. The color of leaves is now of significant importance when selecting a plant for the purpose of enhancing a landscape. As a matter of fact, in certain cases, it is the foliage that is regarded as the plant’s main asset.

Variegation, which can, metaphorically speaking, be considered almost a household term, seems to have started it all. At least that’s what I think: Often yellow, those streaks, marks, or lines – a result of irregular distribution of pigment on the otherwise green leaves – might prompt some folks to question the status of the health of a plant. Frankly, given a choice, I often opt for plants with variegated foliage, which brings home the point for my growing the lovely Iris pallida ‘Variegata’ in the first place, which – you guessed it – bears leaves with light yellow stripes on them; likewise, the huge patch of the variegated Solomon’s seal that began from just a few-leaved plant highlights a rather obscure corner of our front yard.

Moving on from leaves with yellow hues are the shades of burgundy to almost black, which are topping the list of popularity in the world of gardening; the Blackie Sweet Potato vine, the Elephant Ear Black magic, and cannas with burgundy-black foliage are some examples of such novelties. Particularly dramatic in a container is a combination of the black and chartreuse sweet potato vine along with some sun-loving annuals in contrasting colors. A word of caution, though, about using sweet potato vines: since plants can “travel” to great distances in just one growing season, do allow space or trim periodically to keep under check.

Defined as “the appearance of objects described in terms of the individuals’ perception of them,” color perhaps is what draws one’s attention the most; whereas flowers do satisfy a major portion of our visual appetite for color, the role foliage plays in our gardens has now become just as important.

Gita’s Tip of the Month: Yard work becoming a little overwhelming? Start the day by tackling a smaller, manageable project rather than embarking on a larger, more demanding one; the sense of accomplishment that comes in completing a small job can often be the driving force to finish a more difficult task.

gitaagrawal@juno.com

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