Fantastic Woody Plant Foliage

The windchill this morning was -4 degrees F.  That was a brutal wake up call for me and all the robins that have been duped with this cold start to spring!  I spent the day catching up on desk work as I'll start having less time to do so when we get rolling out in the gardens.  With the grounds staff starting in April, my percentage of "outdoor time" will increase dramatically (amen!).  I'm finalizing some details for the compost sale, Spring Plant Sale, Home Garden Tour (July 20th) and some other events.  While the piles on my desk fluctuate in height, they never seem to end!

We had a nice volunteer turnout today.  Dr. Gredler continued finishing his last painting projects for the winter and both Urban and Rose were in to put more sealant on our teak and cedar benches.  Pat M. was in for some work and Janice continued her progress on neat plant sale signs that will help "sell" our wonderful offerings.  See www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for a listing of both vegetables and herbs that will be offered at the sale.  For the second year we'll also have a wide range of perennials available and will also be offering some nifty shrubs and small trees too!  We also saw Bill O., Larry G., Maury, Big John and others today.

My blog posting simply refers to appreciating the merits of colorful foliage on our trees and shrubs.  There are too many "green blobs" in our landscape and while green is nice, consider extended foliage interest!  While fall color is truly an asset, consider that 3 week contribution compared to a 5+ month contribution by those tree and shrub selections that have foliage that is colorful, textural and otherwise, cool to look at!  These are just a few of the many options available for our gardens.  If any of these interests you, accomplish more research to proactively understand the needs of the plant and understand that the vividness of the foliage may be different is spring, summer and fall.  The top photo is the tricolor European beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Roseo-marginata').

Cotinus coggygria  Golden Spirit ('Ancot') (golden European smokebush)

Weigela florida  Ghost ('Carlton')

Forsythia viridissima var. koreana 'Kumson' (variegated forsythia)

Cornus alternifolia 'Golden Shadows' (variegated pagoda dogwood)

Acer saccharinum 'Born's Gracious' (skeleton-leaf silver maple)

Physocarpus opulifolius  Lady in Red ('Tuilad') (ninebark)

Eleutherococcus sieboldianus 'Variegatus' (variegated five-leaf aralia)

Corylus avellana 'Red Majestic' (red contorted filbert)

Quercus robur 'Concordia' (golden English oak)

Cornus mas 'Variegata' (variegated Corneliancherry dogwood)

Cornus alternifolia  Gold Bullion ('Bachone') (golden pagoda dogwood)

Cercidiphyllum japonicum 'Rotfuchs' ('Red Fox') (maroon katsuratree)

Cercidiphyllum japonicum 'Rotfuchs' ('Red Fox') (maroon katsuratree)

Acer pseudoplatanus 'Variegatum' (variegated sycamore maple)

Acer campestre 'Carnival' (variegated hedge maple)