Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Green in the Garden (last of the series)


It seems almost silly to talk about green in the garden. OF COURSE there's green in the garden - most leaves, stems and evergreen needles are green.

But if you look more closely, you'll notice that the green of spring is fresh and lime-coloured. Summer green is mature, deep and lush. Many green leaves turn a completely different colour altogether in fall.

Green makes shady places look cool and fresh. I'm lovin' all the different names too: pea, olive, fern, bean, lime, kiwi, mint and ivy.


Brunnera has small blue flowers in spring but the rest of the summer its variegated leaves are a stand-alone focal point.


Euonymus, Love-in-a-Mist and variegated Hosta show different shades of green as well as different textures.


Hostas and painted ferns


Lots of different shades here beside a calm, reflecting pool.


Silver-y blue/green of the nest spruce sets off the greens of hostas, ferns and shrubs


Green leaves spill over a patterned indigo wrought-iron fence


Such cool variegation!


I have always loved striped Miscanthus grass and have it many spots throughout the garden


Huge swaths of pachysandra surround a dogwood bush.


Look at the texture-mania happening here!


One of my autumn favourites: multi-coloured layered kale beside a big rock, surrounded by periwinkle, lamium and miscanthus.

Please check out my food blog - latest post is Very Crispy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

8 comments:

Nadezda said...

At the first sight the greenness seems to be the same. But! All these leaves, their texture, shapes, tints, etc. are different. Love your hostas, brunneras , thujas, green-striped leaves. Can wait when my brunnera awakes and sprouts its leaves.

Astrid said...

Hi Nadezda
You hit the nail on the head! With so much green in the garden anyway, we must look for the differences between the shades and textures.
Astrid

HELENE said...

We couldn’t do without green in the garden! Lovely post Astrid, and so many beautiful photos.
And I also noted the brunnera, I haven’t got one but would like to have a few at the bottom of my garden :-)

Jennifer said...

The end of a long winter is the perfect time to talk about green. My favourite green has got to be the one that you see in early spring. I looked at your picture of the Bunnera and hoped that mine established itself enough to make it through the winter.
It is actually supposed to be warm tomorrow. I can hardly wait!!

debsgarden said...

Green is a fabulous color, and I love it in all its many manifestations. A garden needs a good background of green for the showier colors to appear their best. And where I am from, green predominates through the summer, so one must be able to highlight with variations of green to keep things interesting. Thanks for showing some of the great greens!

Lee@A Guide to Northeastern Gardening said...

There are so many wonderful shades of green which play a huge part in the garden! I enjoyed all the posts in your colors series Astrid.

Astrid said...

Thanks Helene!
Brunnera would do well in your garden or in one of your pots. Such pretty foliage!
Astrid


Hi Jennifer
Today truly gave us hope - sunny, mild and the snow is disappearing so quickly! Yay!! Next come all those spring greens.
Astrid


Hi Deb
It's true - green really is the colour of summer. Spring has all the bright bulbs and autumn has all the golden tones. Variation within the greens is the key.
Astrid

Hi Lee
Thanks! It was fun doing the colours as a series. Hopefully I can participate in April's GBBD - it would be so nice to show something that's actually coming up and growing!
Astrid

Patty said...

I look forward to seeing green in the garden soon. Life!