Flowers are just doing their job when they take over your attention in a landscape. Their function is to attract insects to ensure their health and repopulation! However, choosing plants for their foliage can take your yard to a whole new level, adding visual interest beyond the pretty petals. We’ve noted some of our favorite varieties for adding color to your landscape with foliage.
Landscape Bed Plants:
Hosta
f you know Eagleson Landscape Co, you know we are already Hosta geeks. However, they are first on this list because they have some of the best foliage around! With thousands of varieties, you can mix and match to create a beautiful display. They will fit into most landscapes except full sun, which means nearly any house can utilize them. Large varieties can be a good option where a bush may be too big while still making the space look lush and full.
Coral Bells
Another perennial that offers tons of varieties, from red, purple and green to combinations of pink and peach just to name a few, Coral Bells can either help brighten up a space or can quietly complement it. They prefer more partial shade, but will tolerate full shade or full sun and grow to about 12 inches high and wide in a mound habit. They offer insignificant flowers that add texture, but it is mainly the foliage that is the star of the landscape.
Artemisia
A full sun plant than can take part shade too, Artemisia has a very finely textured silver-colored foliage that looks awesome when sun hits the leaves. The sparkly look contrasts nicely with other landscape plants. Great to pair with coarser foliage to create an interesting contrast that catches the eye or to tuck in with boulders to help soften the hard stone.
Lungwort
This semi-evergreen ground cover will make it through winters depending upon Mother Nature’s mood. If it does die, it will come back with a beautiful spring flower along with its lovely foliage giving you two bangs for your buck. The leaves stay flat against the ground, getting only to about 6“tall. The slender green foliage with white dots add a lot of interest to a landscape.
Japanese Painted Ferns
We love to plant these ferns in conjunction with Coral Bells and Hosta because their purple-throated silver leaves pick up colors from plants around them. Japanese Painted Fern’s stiff, upright growth adds an attractive vertical texture, offering a unique contrast to your other plants. They prefer shade to partial shade like most ferns.
Lamb’s Ear
Kids love this plant due to the velvety fur on the leaves, so Lamb’s Ear is a great plant to put in your family garden. It also brings the landscape in the physical level because it’s fun to touch! It requires a bit of maintenance to deadhead the flowers if you choose a blooming variety. Consider planting Lamb’s Ear along a patio walkway to soften the hard surface. They are low growing so are the perfect forefront plant, and their silver foliage complement soft-color plants.
Karl Forester Feather Reed Grass
This species has a flowy, airy look like most grasses. However, the Karl Forester Feather Reed Grass also offers an upright, stiff look that is great for landscape back drops. They also complement low-growing perennials in a bed and can create a prairie or meadow look if you desire. This Reed Grass is fairly low maintenance, though they have to be cut back each winter and split every few years.
Fountain Grass
The opposite of Karl Forester Feather Reed Grass, Fountain Grass has a weeping shape that looks like a fountain, hence their name. They have an airy, light blowing-in-the-wind texture, but in a mounding habit. We like to plant them in conjunction with the Karl Forester, or with summer, full sun perennials.
Gray Owl Juniper
Sam loves this evergreen because of its growth habit – a horizontal leggy shape. The Gray Owl Juniper sports blue evergreen foliage and tends stay the perfect size for a foundation planting with minimal pruning. With its unique color, it’s a great alternative to Boxwood or Yew.
Plus, we have some fun foliage suggestions for your patio pots:
Annuals:
Elephant Ear – Large leaves add striking visual interest with a tropical look perfect for a pool
Coleus –Adding fabulous color through their foliage, this is a great way to spruce up a window box or planter.
Caladiums – lots of bright color options on a leaf-shaped similar to the Elephant Ear
Canna Lilies – 4 ft tall, upright plant with a bright red flower on top – another option when going for a tropical look
Options for Fall Décor:
Ornamental Cabbage and Kale – hearty plant can last pretty far into fall, even withstanding a couple of mild frosts
Purple Fountain Grass – deep purple grass adds an upright look to a pot, pairing well with Ornamental Cabbage
Sweet Potato Vine – can be planted throughout the year, the deep purple or lime green foliage that likes to drape the sides of pots.
As we always say, there are so many more varieties out there for you to choose from! While we have listed some of our favorites, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Next time you are at the nursery, take a moment and look beyond the pretty flowers. Adding color to your landscape with foliage can add more interest in the landscape, including varying textures, barks, and shapes.
