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Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Inaugural Foliage Follow-Up

This is my first ever Foliage Follow-Up, and it has perfect timing: just yesterday I was marveling at my gorgeous and HUGE Stachys byzantina (a.k.a. Lamb's Ear) Helen von Stein!

Helen von Stein Lamb's Ear and 'Valentine' roses
I tried them once in my old garden and they died, but not before looking profoundly craptastic. Not sure what the secret is this time except they're in a slightly elevated bed? But whatever, I look like a Lamb's Ear rockstar.

Then there's the Canna 'Flambe', with it's glowy goodness:
I flippin' love Canna 'Flambe'
My Pennisetum 'First Knight' doesn't make for a spectacular photo, but it's actually growing (which was questionable a month ago) so it deserves recognition:
Pennisetum 'First Knight'
I tried to capture a decent picture of the 'Ruby Falls' Weeping Redbud, but I don't think I succeeded in doing it justice:
Weeping Redbud 'Ruby Falls'
It's a funny looking little tree, and I do mean little. It's only about 2 feet tall, and the top of it is totally flat. It looks kind of out-of-place in the front bed with all the Salvia, Canna and Yucca, but I ain't moving it.

The Chocolate Mimosa requires no words:
Chocolate Mimosa
 But it DOES require two pictures:


My pots against the fence, with Bamboo Muhly (which may or may not do okay in that much shade) and my now-tiny 'Sun King' Aralia (which definitely will):


And because potted plants need love too:
 No idea what any of these are, but I love them together.
I blew my whole wad on a single Foliage Follow-Up, didn't I??

5 comments:

  1. I love the statement you included under the masthead of your blog - it captures my own reason for blogging to a "t". Your Stachys 'Helen von Stein' is perfect - I've had mixed results with it too but in my case it did best on the first go than when I bought a lot of it to pepper about my garden, at which point it apparently decided that it didn't like it here in SoCal after all. (I'm blaming our drought, which is currently assigned responsibility for every failure I'm not able to pin on the raccoons.) The Canna is absolutely gorgeous.

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    1. Yeah, I'm pretty sure if this were a normal Spring those Lamb's Ear would be cooked by now, but I'm going to ride the green wave as long I can! ;-)

      I never knew I could like a flowerless Canna until I got these! Now I feel like I need more...

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  2. Ooh, you have a chocolate mimosa! Do tell -- what conditions does it like? Does it come through our winters ok? I'm trying 'Vertigo' pennisetum this year, which looks a lot like your 'First Knight'. Mine are definitely liking all the rain.

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    1. I planted it late last Fall, so the past Winter was it's first. I'm glad it was a relatively mild one so I have a whole year to get the roots established, but so far so good: it came back healthy and vigorous this Spring, and all the water has only helped! (It's in an elevated bed, so thankfully I don't have to worry about it sitting in water.)

      I planted it on the side of the house that gets full sun in the afternoon, but it's behind a fence that may block some of that? I'm probably deluding myself...we'll see what a real Summer brings!

      I was SO tempted to buy Vertigo! How do deer feel about these grasses?

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    2. Deer typically leave grasses alone. I have one Vertigo in the front unfenced garden, and it's been unmolested.

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