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I Like Winter Leaves.

siris

By siris

21 comments


I like Leaves, attached to trees in winter, not the blowing around type! Evergreen leaves are especially appreciated, like this Trachelospermum jasminoides, growing by the front door for it delicious scent when in flower.


Even better is the variegated leaved one, with leaves of pink and cream at this time of year.


Still on the theme of pink, cream and green. A variegated Pyracantha…..


…..growing to hide a drain pipe from the conservatory gutter.
Then there are the yellow and green evergreens, Euonymus fortunei, Emerald and gold, on the side fence.


On the back fence, an Eleagnus, green and yellow, with grey leaved Brachyglottis greyii to the right.


To the right, white and green variegated Euonymus with Winter flowering Jasmine.


The whippy stems of Abutilon megapotamicum variegatum are now reaching over two 6ft fence panels, although not dense. I am so pleased with this plant.

Culinary Rosemary shrub needs replacing it is over 6 ft in height, quite old with a bare midriff, but it continues to flower right though the winter. There is a deciduous Campsis between them.

The promise of flowers to come, a smaller Oregan Grape with an orange berried Pyracantha behind.

Blue foliage Ruta.

A selection of variegated border plants…..
Iris foetidissima variegata

Ophiopogon planiscarpus Little Tabby…..

….with coloured foliage which has stood up to the frosts


Mostly silver leaves. I remove most of the self seeded plain leaved Cylamen.

Hellebore snuck into the photo.

All photos taken around New Year 2017

A harbinger of Spring, roll on.

More blog posts by siris

Previous post: After the Frosts.

Next post: 2017 New Year's Resolution.



Comments

 

Lovely blog. leaves are truly amazing and so often overlooked.

2 Jan, 2017

 

Crikey........lots of winter colour/interest!

2 Jan, 2017

 

Beautiful selection of leaves, Siris ...
thanks for sharing.

2 Jan, 2017

 

I agree Seaburn...I miss the leaves on our fences the Euonymus were a delight, all year long, and a quick prune kept them in place.......
I love your Trachleospermum, especially the variegated one, is it a tender variety, and does it need sun?
We have a variegated Pyracantha in the front garden it has never had a berry on it.......just like the Jasmine has never had a flower!
I am taking it the Ruta is hardy?
Our fences look so bare now, still I am sure it will all grow back soon..
Great blog, and where would we be without all those beauties? btw don't the Heucheras look fantastic in the frost......

2 Jan, 2017

 

Thank you, SBG, I am trying to clothe the back garden fences with a back-drop of evergreen plants with interesting foliage.

2 Jan, 2017

 

Dd, the var. Trachelospermum is facing the NW so get only a bit of evening sun, the plain is pruned hard because it grows so rampantly, and is easily layered but not the variegated, because I can't get the stems down to the earth to pin down. I did try cuttings for you but not at the right time of year and they didn't root.
Var. Pyracantha has a few flower each year, not easily visible, and sparse berries afterwards. It is huge and quite old now.
Rue is hardy here. I love it's blue coloured leaves.

2 Jan, 2017

 

Its a great collection Siris. I do especially like the silver Euonymus paired with the jasmine. What's the one 6th from the bottom please? I'm ignorant about grasses,but I keep seeing it in peoples' photos and wondering - its so pretty in a winter border.

2 Jan, 2017

 

What a lovely blog Siris, so much to admire in your garden, many years ago I used to think gardens were drab in the winter, then I grew up, lol, seriously I s'pose it stemmed from the fact that when still working there wasn't time or even the inclination to go into the garden at this time of the year, sometimes one only saw it in daylight at the weekends and often that was a time for catching up indoors..Lovely photo's, thankyou for sharing...

2 Jan, 2017

 

Thanks, Stera, the white stripy plant is a Mondo Grass, Ophiopogon planiscarpus Little Tabby. It has v. small pale white flowers, neat and tidy plant. I have it as edging in places. Same family as the Black Mondo Grass which has purple flowers.
Thanks Lincslass, I know what you mean about gardening in the winter when you are working, leave and return in the dark.

3 Jan, 2017

 

It is a lovely blog. All those beautiful colours of leaves in the winter are great to see.

3 Jan, 2017

 

Siris, do you ever dry some of the leaves? If so, how?
A friend of mine places the leaf stems in Glycerin.

I press the occasional Acer leaf in a Dictionary and they retain their colour. As a teenager my mother used to press pansies in books but she would have little messages actually written on the petals. I remember loving these as a child.

3 Jan, 2017

 

I love leaves too, you do have some superb plants Siris. My aim is to clothe one of my fences but its overshadowed by a huge tree belonging to nextdoor, I am heavily relying on my Fatshedera ?
I enjoyed your blog.

3 Jan, 2017

 

I would hate to be without my evergreens. You have some there that would definitely not survive outdoors here all winter...like the pink leaved jasmine. Mine is in the greenhouse now, having sulked all summer outdoors. I love that Ruta...gorgeous colour. I also like the variegated Pyracantha. Its a bit unusual :)

3 Jan, 2017

 

Eirlys, no I never dry leaves, nor do I cut flowers for the house. That's not quite true, I do take broken off flowers and put in a small vase, grumbling profusely about the damage. I believe they belong outside, as my garden is small, and are positioned to serve a purpose....my satisfaction.
Dawn that is a difficult location. The white and green Eleagnus and the Euonymus, are mostly in shade here with an evergreen Honeysuckle growing through them, which is rather too rampant.
Thank you Karen, I tend to overlook the green leaved Pyracantha until they produce blossom and also the red or orange berries in Autumn. The variegated one only flowers very sparsely.
The Ruta, pictured is in the front garden, a cutting from the outsized one in the back. It has acid green/yellow flowers in summer. Not keen on the foliage smell though.

3 Jan, 2017

 

Thank you Siris. I have a small Little Tabby kindly given to me from a Goyer but it is nothing like as big as yours, more like a mini version. I wonder what I'm not doing that I should be?

3 Jan, 2017

 

Leaves are invaluable in a garden especially in winter. I think with their various shapes and variegations they can be as interesting as flowers ...
You have some very nice ones :)

3 Jan, 2017

 

I do appreciate the colorful foliage this time of year. Kudos to you for the flowering jasmine. Congratulations.

4 Jan, 2017

 

Stera, patience? This Little Tabbby has not been divided, unlike all the dozens of small ones.
Hywell, leaf shapes that's another theme......grey leaved Artichoke....very structural.
Bathgate, probably more than one plant now along the back fence, it's long stems root if they touch the soil as they extend, nothing to do with me really.

4 Jan, 2017

 

Siris, thank you - looks like simply waiting and having a chat with it now and again then. It was the height that worried me rather than the size of the clump - mine's less than half the height of yours.
Or perhaps its wrongly identified after all.
Sent you a PM re the glycerin.

4 Jan, 2017

 

Siris- My honeysuckle does the same thing, where ever it touches the ground, it will root in and start a new plant. That's exactly what I love about it. It will cover the entire fence on its own. Jasmine is one of the most pleasant aromas in the world.

4 Jan, 2017

 

Stera, just measured my Little Tabby in the dark .... 6" tall arching as presented, 10" if I pull a leaf out straight. If yours is half the size that is wee. Eirlys was enquiring about Glycerin, sound a bit sticky to me.

4 Jan, 2017

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