The Green Thumb Corner

By Victoria Klaas

August 2018

 

 

Greetings, Green Thumbers!


I thought it might be fun to compile a list of recommended plants we could plant when it cools down in late October. There isn’t much we can do in our gardens now except water, pinch and prune.

Today we have many choices of color in both flowers and foliage. Unlike flowers that can last a few months or in some cases, less than a day, we can admire foliage all year around.

The garden plants I recommend for their astonishing foliage colors are:

TREES: 
Variegated "Stellar Pink" Dogwood.
Seashell pink flowers. Green and white leaves turn red in fall. Deciduous, 20-24 feet tall. 

Variegated Eureka Lemon, Citrus lemon 'Eureka Variegated Pink:
Green and yellow leaves that exhibit strawberry pink color on new growth. Fruit is striped green and yellow. Evergreen.  

PERENNIALS:
Heucherellas and Heucheras:
Among the most amazing examples of the breeder's art, available in a seemingly endless variety of gorgeous colors and blends. Flowers are unexceptional but foliage is mouthwatering. View these at WaysideGardens.com. Perfect small plants for shady, damp places.

Ipomoea batatas 'Margarita”:
Margarita Sweet Potato Vine and Ipomoea batatas 'Sidekick' are both colorful Sweet Potato vines. Deep mahogany red and lime green foliage. Perfect for use in hanging baskets or tall pots.

BULBS: 
Caladiums are grown from spring planted tubers. The leaves are brilliant color patterns featuring red, rose, strawberry, green and white.

VINES:
Trachelospermum asiaticum 'Snow Rose'. Variegated form of the fragrant and familiar Confederate Jasmine.  Green and white leaves display strawberry pink coloration on new growth in spring.

SHRUBS: 
Spiraea  japonica hybrids. Characterized by neatness, small size (usually 2 x3 ft.), and white, rose, pink or ruby spring flowers. Foliage varies from golden to burgundy to deep green. Deciduous.

SUCCULENTS: 
Echeveria ‘Neon Breakers. Teal leaves flushed with pink and lavender. Crassula marginalis rubra ‘Calico Kitten has trailing succulent with trailing pink, grey, green and cream leaves. Good for hanging baskets.  Anacampseros telephiastrum variegata 'Sunrise' has green, gold, and peppermint pink rosettes. Echeveria 'Chroma,' has marbled rosette in black, orange, gold, green grey and purple.