Poll : Foliage or Flowers?

[beautifulbay]

Just wondering, when you try to fill in your gardens, are you looking more at the foliage or the flowers?

[Mandy]

In some cases it's both. For example my astilbies. Love both the flower & foliage. Another one is my Chocolate Joe Pye Weed. Love the purple leaves almost more than the flower.

[unicorn2564]

Both like with the canna Dark leaves and striped oh my!!!

[onyx]

i like both, but like flowers more.. i just love seeing people's gardens in bloom. so pretty and i love the smell of flowers (except sunflowers & daisies! but they're both pretty flowers)

[zuzu's petals]

I am the lonely (one and only - so far) vote for foliage.
Don't get me wrong, I do love beautiful flowers ....
but when it comes right down to it, if I had to choose between
one plant that had gorgeous foliage and kinda blah flowers
and another plant that had gorgeous flowers but blah foliage -
I'd pick the one with the great foliage.

I grow several plants that I keep all of the flower buds off of cut,
never letting them bloom at all.

[unicorn2564]

What ??? cut the buds off???Are you MAD woman??? Just kiddin ZUZU!!
I just got some peppers from a Tri-Fetti just for the plant leaves. I dont eat hot peppers but I loved the striking plant so much I can give the peppers away. The peppers start out purple and are pretty too!!!

[beautifulbay]

I have to agree with you zuzu, sometimes the foliage is more important. I don't like hosta flowers, and grow them strictly for the foliage ....as well as heucheras (some have nice flowers, mine don't). Cannas, I like the foliage ... and many times I pick something for foliage where I want it.

But most of them time, when I think of what I want to put in, I run my mind through flower varieties first and foremost and think of what I want, and think of foliage later....so even though it's both for me, my mind always goes to flowers first. Would a rose bush be the same without a rose??? I don't think so!!

[SuddenlySpring]

Yeah, I always think of the flowers first. I always have the vision of a plant packed with flowers, so much so that you can see the flowers from far away like a colorful blur--like a Manet painting. But since I live in Colorado, I'm beginning to wonder if foliage might be something to look into, as this soil and weather doesn't give me a whole lotta time to have a plant dripping with flowers. I definitely need something colorful to look at, while waiting for the flowers, even if it is just different shades of green, brown, and blue!

[beautifulbay]

spring, ypou may want to give heucheras a try then, if you haven't already. They come in lots of different colors --foliage

[SuddenlySpring]

Yes! That's on my wishlist LOL.

[beautifulbay]

Yeah, they should be on everyone's list...I only have 1, a purple palace.

We should start up a thread just for trading heuch, and everyone with different colors can trade off. I've wanted a bed full of them.
Come spring, it'll be time for herk trading!!!

[ok_nurse]

Since there are so many different variegated leaves now, the foliage must be taken into account to balance a flowerbed off. I don't want dark next to dark. I want dark in one area and bicolor white in another, bicolor yellow in another with solid and dark green alternating with splashes of bright color throughout. Maybe some light green vine like sweet potato, to lighten a dark area.
Is that to much to ask?
I also look at shapes-Large leaves in back (like canna) and various sizes and shapes so "busy" leaves get balanced with "peaceful,flowing" leaves. Tall gladiolas and give heighth and short liriope contrast with busy zinnias and short annuals. I love it all.

[SuddenlySpring]

When you put it that way, it does seem very cool. I liked the way groundcovers looked with tall spiky plants. Even bronze-y foliage cannas shooting out of some true green mounds of phlox or something would be pretty interesting.

I definitely want to get started on some heucheras, heucherellas, tiarellas, etc. People around here say they are actually fairly drought-tolerant as well! A plus for me. The only foliage plant I have right now is a hosta LOL. But here I am wondering what color the flowers are going to be.... haha!

Oh yeah and lamb's ears are fun to touch, so are some verbascums. I like touching those weird leaves.

[angmf2233]

I just like to have as much color as possible to let my light shine through!!! I just wish I could get my hands on more of true blue flowers, this spring or over winter I am gonna plant my prized blue himalayan poppies I so wanted and hope I get at least One!!!!!!!!

[beautifulbay]

spring .... I can send you some herk, hosta, and lambs ears in the spring if you like.