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Foliage Plants

I find it really hard to choose my most favourite plants, without at least trying to divide them up into categories. There is real competition here between the foliage plants and the flowering ones.

Foliage and Garden Sculpture

The flower versus foliage contest will always be raging in my garden. I entered my variegated phase in 1999 after reading some inspired American gardening books. Since then my feelings for stripey leaves and spotty leaves have been running hot.

Then I started my hosta phase. I now have a wonderful collection, none of whose names I can remember! Hostas are considered by some gardeners the finest foliage plants of all.

My favourite foliage plants below are not properly organised - they're a bit random, like the garden they live in. Some of them have done time in world famous perennial borders. Others have the most beautiful flowers as well as leaves. I hope you enjoy my choices.

Purple Sage... Thu 26th Apr 2007: My purple leafed sage, which I grow each year as a foliage plant, is in good company, according to my latest gardening library book. This humble herb occupies a quarter of the colour cover!
Darmera peltata... Sat 17th Feb 2007: One should never ever take one's own ability as a gardener too seriously! Or, to be more specific, one's ability to correctly identify an ornamental rhubarb plant!
Angelica... Sat 11th Nov 2006: Angelica, the common garden variety, is one of my most favourite foliage plants. It has form, texture, and above all, a strong shiny green colour. And a beautiful name!
Purple Leaf Ligularia... Fri 24th Feb 2006: As a lover of foliage plants, I grow several varieties of Ligularia - crinkly, spotty, and plain. This elegant brown-purplish leafed Ligularia is my latest acquisition.
Aralia... Tue 19th Jul 2005: Aralias are beautiful big foliage plants which I grow outside in sheltered places. In the middle of winter their fingered green leaves shine in the sun.
Ligularia Martian Invader... Tue 26th Apr 2005: The crinkle leafed Ligularia that some bright nurseryman decided to call Martian Invader has been a favourite foliage plant of mine for some years now. I grow it in the shelter of overhanging trees by the water.
Autumn Peony and Flax... Sat 23rd Apr 2005: Everyone loves peonies flowering in early summer. But peony foliage is beautiful too - both the fresh new spring growth and the rich colours of autumn.
Ligularia... Sat 12th Feb 2005: This is my much loved spotty foliage plant, commonly known as the Leopard plant. It is happy in partial shade at the back of the wood shed. This is its third position in the garden, and I think I've finally got it right!
Iris Japonica (Japanese Iris)... Sun 3rd Oct 2004: Iris Japonica, or Japanese Iris, is my dream foliage plant. I pull existing clumps gently to pieces and poke the separate bits straight back into the soil. Finally after years of neglect I now have a picture of its icy white flowers.
Myrtle and Carex... Tue 28th Sep 2004: In the garden under the variegated elm tree these two New Zealand natives make a pleasing pair. The foliage contrast between the small round Myrtle leaves and the carex grass is subtle and beautiful all year round.
Bergenias... Tue 21st Sep 2004: It must seem funny having pictures of huge flower heads in the foliage plants pages, but this is exactly what Bergenias do. For most of the year they are the perfect foliage plant. Their huge flowers mid-spring are a wonderful bonus.
Acanthus... Wed 1st Sep 2004: Acanthus are foliage perennials affectionately known as Bear's Breeches - I've stared for long periods of time at my Acanthus patches without ever managing to make the connection.
Black Mondo Grass... Wed 18th Aug 2004: Black Mondo Grass is a super stylish foliage plant, found in designer gardens all around the world. Clumps of Black Mondo Grass in the non-designer Moosey garden sometimes struggle to be seen and appreciated.
Helichrysum... Fri 30th Apr 2004: I grow two varieties of perennial Helichrysum Petiolare, which I commonly know as Curry plant. It's treated as half-hardy in my garden, so usually lives in pots - placed out in the garden in late spring, and collected, pruned and popped into the glass-house for winter.
Pittosporums... Wed 21st Apr 2004: I am very rude about the many Pittosporums growing here in the garden, speaking mainly about pruning and chopping them down. I need to set the record straight - Pittosporums are very beautiful foliage shrubs and trees.
Canna 'Bengal Tiger'... Thu 26th Feb 2004: This beautiful lemon and green striped Canna is known by other names in other countries. In New Zealand it gets the exotic name 'Bengal Tiger'.
Miscanthus Zebrinus... Tue 24th Feb 2004: This clumping grass has beautiful horizontal stripes - lemon on green. It's a big but well behaved customer, and the winter silvery seedheads are fine and intricate.
Canna 'Tropicana'... Mon 25th Feb 2002: In New Zealand, the Canna lily 'Tropicana' was one of the first well known foliage cannas to be offered in the plant retail market. I refused to buy, as a matter of principle. Two years ago a gardening friend asked if I'd like a small free plant. Of course I said yes.
Golden Hop... Thu 1st Feb 2001: This will sound like a nursery story, but once apon a time there indeed was a well behaved Golden Hop whose job it was to cover a tree stump. The rest of the story becomes a gardener's nightmare. The hop grew, and grew, and grew.
Gunnera... Thu 21st Dec 2000: Gunnera is a dramatic plant, and one which amazes visitors with small gardens. The huge leaves are strong and inflexible, covered with minute spikes. Wind can shred them, and the edges can get burnt by late frosts, but people shouldn't attempt to touch them.
Euphorbia... Fri 8th Dec 2000: I bought this euphorbia from my local nursery in a plant sale. I wanted to increase my collection of euphorbias, as I liked how easily they seemed to grow here. I'm sorry that I don't remember what it was called.
Euphorbia Myrsinites... Fri 8th Dec 2000: This plant was found in a bargain bin, looking very small and insignificant, and without a label, though I suspected it was a Euphorbia. It was later correctly identified by Nicola Rubin as Euphorbia Myrsinites.
Calamagrostis Grass... Wed 6th Dec 2000: One of the first grasses I bought was from a mail order catalogue. I chose it because of the name - Calamagrostis. It sits in a tidy clump in Stephen's border, and the seed heads wave gently in the wind.
Agapanthus... Fri 1st Dec 2000: I grow the large blue flowering Agapanthus at the top of the driveway border, where they are nearly underneath a large gum tree. The soil there is quite dry and yet these plants seem to do well.
Pelargonium... Mon 14th Jun 1999: I grow a cream and green variegated pelargonium which has bright cherry red flowers. It's great in pots and planter boxes, or in borders to lighten up and contrast with the darker plantings. I always have cuttings growing on.
Variegated Euphorbia... Fri 11th Jun 1999: Many gardeners go through a variegated phase, often as they gain in confidence. I used to hate the garish yellow and green shrubs I'd see in garden photos. I'd read so many times that these plants were somewhat vulgar...
Unknown Spikey... Sun 6th Jun 1999: This interesting spikey plant is a character, but I don't know its name. I bought the plant from the small nursery at Ruapuna, which is a country garden in inland Canterbury. Spikey was featured in many of the borders, and I liked its attitude.
Tulips... Tue 1st Jun 1999: Tulips have had varied success in my garden. Often the wind will destroy my carefully positioned groups, blowing them over. Or in the second year after planting they will refuse to flower, or even appear.
Sedum... Wed 28th Apr 1999: I grow many varieties of sedums, like the famous 'Autumn Joy', and enjoy them for their artistic qualities. I have both variegated and plain versions for the bees to visit.
Red Canna... Sun 25th Apr 1999: This beautiful red Canna lily was one that I ordered through the mail from a specialist grower. It has a slightly stripey look to its leaves, with the colours of a forest green and maroon. I can see the red flowers from the upstairs windows of the house.
Pulmonaria... Fri 16th Apr 1999: I think this is the Pulmonaria with that very descriptive name 'Spilt Milk'. The leaves certainly look like milk has been splashed all over them. All my pulmonarias grow well in the shade, but I have to be careful that they get extra watering in summer.
Leucadendron... Thu 1st Apr 1999: The area by the Stables is very very dry, and there is no irrigation to help. Plants here have to suit this situation, and one which seems totally happy is the leucadendron Safari Sunset. It's in full sun all year round.
Lavender... Thu 25th Mar 1999: I have many different varieties of lavender, and am only starting to learn the properties of each type, and the most sensible ways to use them. The bees love them, and I love their smell. It's even enjoyable clipping lavender, as their lovely smell pervades clothing...
Heuchera... Fri 5th Mar 1999: My local bargain bin often puts out pots of Heuchera, and I always grab them. I like the contrast that their leaf colour makes with neighbouring greens.
Gypsophila... Tue 2nd Feb 1999: I bought this Gypsophila from the local golf club and originally planted it in the Dog-Path Garden next to some small fire engine red roses. It's such a good combination - the bridal veil white of the Gypsophila with the romance of the red roses underneath.