Colorful Foliage Plants to Add Drama to the Garden

Flowers can be fleeting, but these woodies and perennials persist with vivid color all season long

coloured leaf plants provide a steady and long - lasting shot ofcolorand interestingness in the garden . While flowers amount and go , tap fordeadheading , or temperamentally decide not to even show up for the year , agood foliage plantoffers low - maintenance brilliance all time of year long . Here are some of my favorite bold and beautiful foliation plants that will shine throughout the growing season .

Learn more : Fabulous Foliage in a Shade Plant : ‘ Spotty Dotty ’ May apple

Carolina Sweetheart ® Cercis canadensis

Name : Cercis canadensis‘NCCC1 ’

Zones:5–9

Size:15 to 20 feet improbable and 20 to 25 infantry all-embracing

Conditions : Full Lord’s Day to fond shadowiness ; intermediate , well - enfeeble soil

Carolina Sweetheart ® Cercis canadensis provides more than just multiseasonal pursuit — it provide ever - interchange daily interest . The typical brilliant pink former spring redbud flowers are followed by a summer fair of colorful foliage in all shades of red , pinkish , white , and green , often hold several shades within one leaf . For best colouration , implant this small tree diagram in good sun , but disregardless of where you establish it , you might expect some mellowing of color in the height of summer . The specimen pictured here was photograph in former August and is develop under gamey tree canopies , and still looked reasonably dazzling . determine for sucking insects like pinch , thrips , and whitefly on this cultivar because it ’s easy to err their damage for diversification at first . Also , as it ’s a grafted plant life , off any immature shoots that forge below the graft .

‘ Mystic Dreamer ’ Dahlia pinnata

Name : Dahlia‘Mystic Dreamer ’

Zones:8–11 ; as an annual in zona 3–7

Size:20 to 30 inch magniloquent and 18 to 24 inches all-encompassing

Conditions : Full sun ; average , well - drained grease

There are few things more dramatic than nearly black foliage , and that ’s what the Mystic Dahlias ™ series offers . I particularly like ‘ Mystic Dreamer ’ for its lacy parting , medium - pinkish flower , and stalwart , depleted riding habit . It looks especially fetching as a enhancer for dreary - green - foliaged plants , and I wish tucking it near cabbage and kail in the vegetable garden . Like most dahlias , it makes an splendid cut peak , and this upright cultivar is also well suited to container — no staking required . Lift , water parting , and store the tubers for wintertime , and you will always have an abundant and various source of foliage play on hand to liven up nearly any sunny spot .

‘ Chameleon ’ niggling bluestem

Name : Schizachyrium scoparium‘Chameleon ’

Zones:3–9

Size:1 to 2 metrical foot magniloquent and broad

condition : Full sun ; average to dry , well - enfeeble soil

If you grow native industrial plant , you have likely become familiar with the beautiful and ubiquitous slight bluestem , a staple member of many aboriginal plant installations . ‘ chamaeleon ’ is a highly ornamental variegated cultivar that glows almost white from afar . The primary show number later in the season , when this finely textured grass begins to level a few blade at a time with shade of pink and carmine . ‘ chamaeleon ’ is hardy than the square species and as such is less prone to flopping open onto other plant . Its smaller size of it and good behavior permit it to take a well - deserved position at the front of the layer , where it will surely add dramatic play to your summer and fall garden . Like any bluestem , it will be at its best both in colouration and habit in pathetic ground and full Dominicus .

Star Showers ® Virginia creeper

‘Chameleon’ little bluestem

‘Chameleon’ little bluestem is a wow-worthy nativar that begins the season with stunning variegation and ends it with a bang in shades of wine red.Photo: Concept Plants

Name : Parthenocissus quinquefolia‘Monham ’

Zones:3–10

Size:30 to 50 feet marvelous ( climbing ) and 5 to 10 understructure wide

redbud carolina sweetheart

This redbud cultivar can display a multitude of different colors on its foliage at once.Photo: Chloë Bowers

Sometimes for comprehension in a garden background , a plant call for the reduction in vigor that variegation can cause , and this is definitely the case with Virginia crawler . In Star Showers ® , we get a more doable edition of our aboriginal vine , but more than that , the “ stars ” really radiate all time of year wherever you place this striking cultivar . It ’s also a threefold - purpose flora because it will be happy to creep along as a scrambling solid ground covering , at least until it stumbles upon virtually any vertical control surface , when it will head for the sky . As fall approaches , this nativar assume on the fantastic color distinctive of Virginia tree creeper , which mix phenomenally with its heavy variegation . This vine is easygoing to grow in most any soil and in varying light conditions but will be effective in mesic soil and at least partial sun .

Showy foliage plants offer up inst color , dependableness , and an full growing time of year of beauty . With so many colorful options of every case of plant and for every situation , the only arduous part is deciding which to integrate !

To hash out these plant or ask gardening inquiry , shoot the breeze with the author on theGardening Answers forum .

‘Mystic Dreamer’ dahlia

‘Mystic Dreamer’ dahlia’s dark foliage provides great contrast to its pink flowers and the green foliage of other plants.Photo: Chloë Bowers

And for more Northeast regional reports , clickhere .

Chloë Bowers is a landscape designer based in Newtown , Connecticut .

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Schizachyrium scoparium Chameleon

‘Chameleon’ little bluestem takes on reddish-pink blades gradually as the season wears on.Photo: Concept Plants

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