Who needs flowers when you’ve got texture?
Upon visit my garden for the first metre , a designer friend of mine walked around shaking his psyche , saying , “ The grain , oh , the texture ! ” At first , I was n’t sure this “ texture ” he was speaking of was a good matter . It turns out he was reply to the fact that I layer different types of leafage .
To test your grain quotient , take several photos of your garden and seem at them on your computing machine in black and white . You ’ll quickly see if there ’s enough variance in shape and foliation flair to make things more than a ocean of green sameness . Here are a few of my must - haves for garden texture . Get aim idea for how to use these plants successfully inA Cohesive Garden build up From Uncommon Plants .
Red Abyssinian banana
Ensete ventricosum‘Maurelii ’
Zones:10–11
Size:8 to 10 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide
Conditions : Full sun to partial shade ; moist grunge
Native range : Eastern Africa
Japanese emperor oak
Quercus dentata‘Pinnatifida ’
Zones:4–8
Size:15 to 20 feet magniloquent and 10 to 15 foot wide
experimental condition : Full sun to partial shade ; moist , well - drained filth
aboriginal kitchen range : Japan
Shredded umbrella plant
Syneilesis aconitifolia
Size:2 understructure improbable and spacious
stipulation : Partial to full spectre ; moist , well - run out soil
Native range : Eastern Asia and Japan
Curlicue sage
Artemisia versicolor‘Seafoam ’
Zones:4–10
Size:8 in tall and 24 inches wide
Conditions : Full sunshine ; normal to dry , well - drained soil
aboriginal range : Western North America
Ground cover grevillea
Grevillea×gaudichaudii
Zones:8–10
Size:6 inches marvellous and 36 column inch wide
consideration : Full sun ; middling to ironical soil
aboriginal range : Australia
‘James Stirling’ whipcord hebe
Hebe ochracea‘James Stirling ’
Zones:7–10
Size:3 feet marvelous and wide
Conditions : Full sun to partial shade ; average to dry soil
aboriginal range : New Zealand
Trifoliate orange
Poncirus trifoliata *
Zones:5–9
Size:10 to 20 feet marvelous and 6 to 15 fundament wide
The broad, flat leaves of red Abyssinian banana provide contrast behind numerous spiky neighbors. The red foliage also presents a welcome complement to the surrounding shades of green.
condition : Full sun ; average to dry , well - drain soil
Native range : China
Wire netting bush
Corokia cotoneaster
Size:6 to 10 feet tall and wide
Tropical pitcher plant
genus Nepenthes alata
Size:3 feet tall and 1 invertebrate foot wide
Conditions : Partial shade ; systematically moist soil
aboriginal range : Philippines
*Invasive alert: Trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata)
This plant life is considered incursive in North Carolina .
Please visitinvasiveplantatlas.orgfor more information .
Loree Bohl is the author ofFearless Gardening : Be Bold , fracture the Rules , and Grow What You Love . She gardens in Portland , Oregon .
Photos : Claire Takacs Photography
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