Foliage plants you love during spring and summer (flowers, anthurium, growing)

[silibran]

I love flowers, but I also love foliage plants which add pizazz to a garden over a long season. I’ll share some faves, and ask you to share yours.

For shade: I’ve discovered Brunneras! I have two with broad, veined whitish foliage that looks fresh and cool all summer long. In spring they throw true blue flowers in dainty clusters on tall stems. And snails don’t seem to bother them. Brunneras are new to me, so it feels like an amazing discovery.

For sun/shade: I like Heucheras, or Coral Bells. My two have gradually grown, and they look better every year. The foliage is green and white marbled, and the plants have a pleasing mounded shape. The beautiful pink stems and dainty flowers last for weeks. And snails don’t seem to eat the foliage.

For sun: I am loving my fancy leaved and scented geraniums. My zonal geranium is quite striking. My scenteds have interesting foliage, and my heritage geraniums has striking zoned foliage with pink blossoms. I have these in pots, which I must manage to overwinter in my garage. I am quite taken with these, actually.

What are your favorite foliage plants?

[greatblueheron]

Hosta

Cinnamon fern and other native ferns

Lamb's ear

Flowering: Astilbe, Bleeding heart

[gentlearts]

Oh, I love brunnera too, but it seems too hot here for many of the shade plants I used to have.

Here, I get a kick out of growing the banana tree on the corner of my patio. No bananas, or flowers, but the huge green leaves are beautiful and give a tropical feel to the yard.

Ferns are not successful, but good old hostas do well in shady spots.

I may have said this before, but a gardener once told me to buy plants for the foliage and structure, and think of the flowers as a bonus. It gave me a new way of looking at my garden.

[Zoisite]

Red lace leafed Japanese maple, hot pink & violet perilla, santolina, Russian sage, curry plant, white caladium, anthurium, spiral grasses, polka dot plants, hens 'n' chicks ..... just to name a few.


.

[NYC refugee]

Coleus. The sun varieties are amazing and in winter I just pinch some cuttings to root over winter and re-plant in spring.

Agree with the geraniums. They can have amazing foliage.