Wednesday 16 May 2012

foliage follow up

I can't believe we are talking May foliage follow up.  It feels like yesterday it was April follow up.  With all the warmth it's equally hard to keep up with the changes in the garden.  Quite literally things look different each and everyday.

All of the trachycarpus fortunei around town are pushing out new fronds at an impressive rate.  Once established these palms can put on 1.5 feet of trunk in one growing season quite easily.  That means, before long, these will be towering palms!

I love the shadows cast on this rock.  Throughout the day it changes.  Early in the morning it gets yucca shadows, then agave shadows, and finally butia capitata shadows.


Echeveria Glauca newly planted (still bearing its plant tag.  I have a bad habit of this ...  especially considering there is no question in my mind as to what this plant is)


A personal favourite.  I love when fatsia japonica are pushing new growth.  I take that back, I just love fatsia japonica in general.

Wollemi Pine.  I don't talk much about this plant.  It loves its sheltered corner.  I'm nervous to plant this, however.  Who really knows what the hardiness is like?


 Uh oh... do you sense a trend with the cordylines. I just can't help myself sometimes.



Musa basjoo are starting to take off.  This is so very exciting to me.  Nothing says tropical like some massive banana trees.  It always takes two or three ratty leaves in the spring before these really start looking good.  In other words, by next week, beautiful nanners.


One of the under appreciate stars of the garden are grasses.  I am terrible with their names.  You'd think maybe I should have saved the tags for these ones!  In any case, I really like how they soften things when planted in mass.

It's that same softness that helps contrast all the pointy edges like on this yucca gloriosa variegata.


I posted a few days ago about my new Loquat.  Well here it is all potted up for summer.


And for all the variegated fans...


Now moving into some shade.  This Acuba Japonica really brightens things up.  It's electric!



Hosta lane.... hmm it's possible I have more hostas than anything else in the garden.  It actually surprised me today.  I would never have guessed.

 This is a neglected, somewhat embarrassing part of the garden.  I do, however, love this large patch of rhubarb.  It reminds me of the gunnera I wish I grew but have no where to put it... and it tastes delicious

weeds... some more resilient than others.


 This little thyme smells like fresh lemons! It is fantastic.  I purchased this guy at the Van Dusen Botanical Garden plant sale a few weeks ago and only wish I had bought more.

Last but not least this fargesia nitida.  Well at least that's what I've been calling it.  It grows like a weed and thrives on neglect.  You can never have too many plants like this.  Not to mention they evoke the feelings of somewhere far away.


8 comments:

  1. WOW...so many beautiful things! I love your "shadow rock"...and the Palms, *swoon*!!! I too have a lot of Hosta, they are so low maintenace and with all the different colors why not? That variegated one is amazing!!! And finally the happy Loquat...very nice Foliage Follow-up!

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    1. thanks!! I could just go crazy with palm plantings. I really have to watch. One of the very exciting things is that as they grow large trunks and what not, space opens up underneath with more and more sunshine! I just hope that one of these palms is a female!! I could go palm tree guerilla gardening with all the seedlings!!

      I actually feel gitty about all this sunshine and warmth we've had. Looks like today is the last of the really warm days for me and then back to seasonal. Last spring, to even reach seasonal temperatures would have been exciting.

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  2. Your garden has such an exotic look, and I'd never know it was "up north" from the pictures, though I do realize that Vancouver has a mild winter climate. Great textures. Thanks for joining in for Foliage Follow-Up!

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    1. Thanks for the kind words. Foliage follow-up is my favourite!

      I have really tried to give things an exotic/subtropical look. We really are blessed here in and around Vancouver with a mild climate. As far as Canada goes, the south west coast is kind of our equivalent of Los Angeles. Some people have nicknamed it the Canadian Riviera.

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  3. Very nice Foliage Followup post! I love grasses too. I just planted a couple of Trachycarpus a couple of months ago, a bit smaller than yours. My weeds look a lot like yours too.

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    1. thanks! I'm excited to hear about your trachycarpus!! they are incredible plants. Just watch out, before long you'll be like me and be planting them everywhere! By the way, they do look incredible planted as a grove!

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  4. Fantastic!
    Happy Foliage Day!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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    1. Thanks so much! Foliage Day is my favourite.

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