Welcome to my zone 9 garden. My roots are deeply planted in the sandy soil of sub-tropical central Florida, where the summers are long and hot, but the rest of the year is paradise!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

And Now a Word for Colorful Foliage

When it comes to color in the garden, flowers are my first choice. But I must confess that lately I find myself appreciating plants with colorful foliage. Flowers come and go, depending on the season, but colorful foliage is year 'round. And, in my opinion that makes the garden far more interesting. Plus it's easier to ensure that the yard always has color in it.

A lot of colorful foliage is tropical in nature - crotons, cannas, and bromeliads - and perform well in my zone 9 garden, with the exception of an occassional freeze.

This canna lilies have gorgeous foliage plus an added benefit of bright orange flowers.


This croton performs well in the shady part of my garden.


I love this wild and wacky croton. It's just a kaleidoscope of color.


This speckled bromeliad is new to my garden and hasn't produced any pups yet.


In the sunlight, the pinkish red color is much brighter on this bromeliad.


The bright red center of this bromeliad grabs my eye everytime I pass by it.


Caladiums are a summertime favorite. What a great splash of color in a shade garden. These guys are real GIANTS.


The soft purple/green hues of wandering jew are very cooling.


When placed in a sunny spot, this snowbush looks like its covered in blooms. But there are no flowers, only splashes of soft pink leaves.

With so many choices of colorful foliage, flowers are quickly becoming secondary in my garden.

6 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Lots of lovely foilage. Have you ever found a frog in one of your bromeliads? I love seeing pictures of them sitting in those colorful cups.

Susan said...

Lisa...YES, they look so cute all snuggled up in their own little puddle of water waiting for their next bug meal to appear.

SwampAngel65 said...

Beautiful! I always love snowbush, but when I tried to grow it, little catapillars ate it all up. Crotons are always good for splashes of color.

Susan said...

Hi swampangel...Always glad to find another Florida blogger. Welcome! Crotons are a staple in your area.

Anonymous said...

Was at the Forum yesterday in Tampa for the WOF conference and saw a beautiful outdoor display of foilage with variegated leaves of green/burgandy, edged by the same plant in deep purple. Just gorgeous and the leaves almost looked like poinsetta type plants. Any idea what they are and how hard they are to grow??

Susan said...

Anonymous...Don't know what plant that is but it sounds pretty.

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