Foliage Follow-up | February

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Shady Garden Beds

  

Christmas Rose, Helleborus, the bud is white with a blush of pink and opens to a gentle pink and lasts for days. This is planted in a bed with mahonia and bronze fennel. All of the fennel had damage from the frost but it is coming back.  Mahonia below, I  believe it is the Mahonia bealei. 

Mahonia

This holly fern was planted last year in a shady bed amongst holly shrubs and a carpet of ajuga. It will be very pretty in the spring with the purple flowers of the ajuga lining the walkway.

Part Shade Garden Beds

The Herb Garden has fared well even with the heavy freeze in zone 8. Oregano, cilantro, parsley, and fennel do well during the winter. The oregano will live through the heat of the summer. The cilantro and parsley do not tolerate the heat and the fennel is for butterfly larvae. Rosemary was touched by the frost and the other more tender herbs have died back.
I was pleased to see Lemongrass available at Marshall's Grainery (Blue Label Herbs) and picked some up to place in large ceramic pots located near my doors come springtime. I had luck rooting lemongrass purchased from an Asian Market and tried it last summer with success. Anything to discourage the mosquitoes! It needs to be rubbed to disturb the essential oils and the natural occurring citronella.

Full Sun  

The  Dusty Miller Survives. These are grouped with purple Heathers. You can see from my photographs that I have a few oak trees with an abundance of leaves. The"cool" silver white is added to remind us to see "cool" when the summer temperatures arrive and when lit, it adds sparkle to the landscape.

Blue Fescue

Trying to introduce grasses into the landscape I planted 3 blue fescue, Festuca glauca. The fescue dies back in the center after a few years so I have been reading up on the other grasses and grains to gain knowledge about the best choices for this climate and habitat. I like the blue/white glauca sparkle in the evening planted with blackfoot daisy.

Trying to add Grasses and Trying to Gain Clarity

Many years ago, as part of a service project, we planted a patch of Little bluestem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash) to re-establish prairie habitat. Our guide explained a bit about the cross timbers and prairie, and the limestone ledges. The grasses would provide a protective area for native bird’s nests and the extensive root systems would search for water and allow the native grasses to flourish or at least survive in drought conditions even in the caliche rock. Almost 20 years later I am curious how those grasses are doing but I had not really expanded my use of native grasses for my own yard. 

I have been reading Lawn Gone! and I admire Pam Penick so much for stepping out with design solutions for our suburban dilemma, reducing water usage. 
My Pinterest Grasses

Thanks Pam for hosting Foliage Follow Up at Digging

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