Consider Copperleafs

My winter blogging trend certainly continues to "lean" towards sharing some color and today is no exception. The tropical copperleafs (Acalypha wilkesiana) are wonderful in the full sun or part sun garden and we've dabbled with a wide variety of these plants well known for having showy foliage (like 'Tiki Peach Whirl' seen above). This plant is actual a native shrub in Fiji and on some other South Pacific Islands. Reaching almost 10' tall in those climates (hardy to zones 10 and 11), it will only get about 18" tall on average for us but offers such a strong foliage color and frequently interesting texture as well. This plant prefers rich and moist soils (quickly draining though!) and will not thrive in dry conditions, deep shade or overly damp soils. We use them as bedding plants and in containers where they have always thrived.

Today was another quiet one at the Horticulture Center which allowed me to get ready for my 2015 ordering and early events. Pat M. came in for some pruning out in the gardens this morning while Dave T. and Dick H. worked on some carpentry projects. We also saw Art H., Renee S., Jean S., Marsha M. and some others today. The Holiday Lights Show (HLS) starts this Friday, December 12th although we'll have it on briefly this evening so NBC15 (Madison) can broadcast their weather from the HLS which should be a great promotion of the show! Enjoy just some of the many copperleaf selections seen below.