Leaf Studies

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Cathy, of Rambling in the Garden, inspired me with her July post  for ‘Garden Blogger’s Foliage Day’, hosted by Christina of My Hesperides Garden on the 22nd of each month.

Cathy constructed a tessellation of 16 square photos featuring the textures and varying shades of green, showcasing leaves from her summer garden.  Her post is stunning, and perhaps you will take a moment to pop over and have a look at her photos.

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Foliage can be so much better than flowers.  Leaves last for weeks or even months; not just days.  They are tough.  And the intricate details of their structure, often highlighted in vivid color, elevate these organs of photosynthesis to art in its purest form.

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There was finally an opportunity to focus on foliage this morning while I watered the garden.  We have record heat here in Virginia this week, making it more critical to venture out early in the day, or just before dusk, to hydrate pots and new plantings.  Our afternoon heat indexes near 120F,  yet these beautiful leaves endure mid-summer temperatures gracefully.

Water droplets on the leaves make them even more interesting to photograph.

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I have enjoyed taking and editing these photos because they showcase some of my favorite leaves in a unique way.  Following Cathy’s example, I’ve cropped each into a square.  Within that square, there is an effort to show you several different features of each plant’s particular foliage.

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To make it even more interesting, I challenge you to guess the names of as many leaves as you might recognize.  Answers will appear below.

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Colocasia ‘Mojito’

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Collecting and growing beautiful plants remains my passion. I’m attracted by the unique shapes, colors, patterns and textures of their foliage.  Any flowers are surely a bonus, but almost distract from the beauty of these special leaves.

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Grown more for their beauty than for any other purpose, they fill the garden with excitement.  Some are scented; others not.  Most of these are tropical, though a few hardy ones can survive our winters.  Each unfolds its unique geometry, a study in beauty and endurance.

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2016

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20.

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“Plants cannot stay safe.

Desire for light spools grass out of the ground;

desire for a visitor spools red ruffles out of twigs.

Desire makes plants very brave,

so they can find what they desire;

and very tender, so they can feel what they find.”

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Amy Leach

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Caladium

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1. Caladium ‘White Christmas’
2. Begonia ‘Gryphon’
3. Coleus ‘Wizard Pineapple’
4. Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Mariesii’
5. Begonia Rex
6. Colocasia ‘Mojito’
7. Fig
8. Sarracenia flava
9. Alocasia
10. Caladium ‘White Queen’
11. Oxalis ‘Iron Cross’
12. Pelargonium ‘Vancouver Centennial’
13. Pineapple Mint
14. Coleus
15. Pelargonium – Rose scented geranium
16. Angel wing Begonia
17. Canna ‘Australia’
18. hardy Begonia ‘grandis’
19. Pelargonium ‘Grey Lady Plymouth’
20. Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’

Looking Good on Friday

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This pot has been going continuously for three years now.  We make minor changes season to season, adding plants, moving things around, and removing spent annuals.  Last summer it held a seedling Japanese Maple, which has since been moved out into the garden to grow in its permanent spot!

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The fern is in its second season now.  Daffodil leaves are ready to die back for summer, and a newly planted Colocasia ‘Coffee Cups’ stands poised to take off in the coming summer heat.

A few Zantedeschia tubers will send up leaves any time now.  The first batch I planted in late March fizzled, we think.  Perhaps our long spring was too cool.  But new ones should show growth soon, and will fill this planter with elegant flowers by July.

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Zantedeschia offer deliciously elegant flowers and foliage.

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Warm days make all the difference with tropical heat loving plants.  Our Cannas and Colocasias have all begun to really grow, filling our garden with vibrant color and movement.

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Finally, the garden is looking good again!

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Rhubarb commands attention in this large pot on our ‘pedestal’ in the ‘stump garden.’

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Woodland Gnome 2016

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Autumn fern harmonizes with Creeping Jenny and Ajuga. We planted this combo last fall while re-doing a bed beneath our Camellia.

Rain-Glow

Forest Garden in this afternoon’s rain.   All of our Crepe Myrtle trees, save one, have come into bloom.

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“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”

Confucius

 

You would never know it was August, here in Williamsburg, without consulting a calender.

We have embarked upon another stretch of cool, moist, overcast days.   It is wonderfully fresh outside.

Good sleeping weather, actually, and we count ourselves fortunate that our garden  remains  well watered without our assistance.

Geranium and ornamental pepper  grow near the door.

 

We have enjoyed the garden today, in short bursts, between showers.

How satisfying to see it is growing just as winter’s imagination promised.

 

Begonia,  from the Homestead Garden Center

 

Cooler, moister days give us vibrantly deep color in petal and leaf.

Leaves grow into gigantic versions of their springtime selves.

 

Colocasia, “Blue Hawaii” just keeps growing to gigantic proportions. There are also a few “offsets” at the base, nearly ready to dig to share with friends.

 

Layer upon layer of life  shimmers with rain-glow today; almost as if we were suddenly transported to the beautiful Northwest, or the magical gardens of the  British Isles, from the view out of the window !

 

Cannas fill in this border nicely; Colocasia, Sages, and Lantana at their feet and Hibiscus behind.

 

Our hummingbirds have grown plump and sassy.

Every view punctuated with nectar rich flowers, they drink their fill, then pause on a handy branch to survey it all.

And we watch them, and talk to them like pets.

 

Ajuga, Coleus, Ivy, and Petunias.

 

Who knew August could be so lovely in Virginia?

We have been blessed with the sort of comfortable day which finds one reaching for those favorite jeans, a cup of coffee, and a good book.

 

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”

Sir Francis Bacon

 

Autumn “Brilliance” Fern with Creeping Jenny

Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

WPC: Summer Lovin’

Buddleia davidii, “Harlequin” coming into bloom near perennial Hibiscus

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“Your work is to discover your work

and then with all your heart

to give yourself to it.”

A Buddha

 

For one who has accepted the work of a gardener, one of the greatest joys comes from the annual fruition of all of the year’s planning and work. 

 

 

Each carefully chosen and tended plant unfolds itself in beauty, and our love for the garden multiplies.

 

There are seasons to every love in our life. 

 

We touch each again and again as we spiral through all the experiences our lives bring. 

 

And summer remains the sweetest. 

Summer;  filled with color, vitality, growth, and accomplishment. 

 

 

It is always a summer of love when the gardener is at home in her garden.

 

Words and Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

Weekly Photo Challenge:  Summer Lovin’