Fab foliage
As a tribute to Steve Silk’s Fab Foliage Friday (I know, I know, it’s only Thursday), which he initiated on his blog Clatter Valley, I offer this tropical-looking combination: variegated shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata’) and purple heart (Tradescantia pallida).
I don’t usually go for the tropical look in my garden, but this combo sort of fell into my lap. Diana of Sharing Nature’s Garden shared a generous surplus of her shell ginger with me in the spring, and I plopped it into the ground amid the fresh leaves of returning purple heart, which dominates the lower garden. The ginger sulked all summer as I refused to give it the amount of water it wanted, but now that our heat has relented and rain has fallen, it’s growing fast, trying to make up for lost time. I think it looks rather electric with the purple heart in full bloom.
Both of these plants will die back when we get our first freeze, which generally occurs around Thanksgiving. I’ll cut them to the ground when they turn to mush and expect to see them again in late spring.
By the way, my favorite Fab Foliage post from Steve’s Clatter Valley blog features silvery xeric plants (palm, agave, and some sort of ground-hugging succulent), and I’m determined to replicate it one day. It’s utterly gorgeous.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I rest my case about the comment I made about how cleverly you combine plants!
Thanks, Jenny. Even though, in this case, it was a lucky accident? 😉 —Pam
That is certainly a FAB combo of foliage color and texture. Great!
Thanks, Janet. —Pam
Very dramatic! Great combo! They both need some shade, right?
They’ll both take full sun (Diana grows her shell ginger in sun by her pool), but the shell ginger will need a lot more water in sun. I usually see these plants in shade, and that’s what they have in my garden. But I’ve seen the purple heart planted with agaves in sun—stunning! —Pam
I love great foliage combos, and this is one I can do in a summer container. It’s so dramatic. BTW, congrats on the Blotanicals!
Thanks so much, MMD. —Pam
Oh so pretty. Glad she’s not sulking anymore.~~Dee
Me too. No sulking wanted. —Pam
This is a nice combo. I will have to pop over to Steve’s blog and see what has you all excited. I know it will be good.
You’ll like Steve’s agave combo too, Lisa. Though it’s not his but from a public garden, as I recall. —Pam
Very nice! And thanks for sharing the link to Steve’s blog!
My pleasure, Loree. —Pam
Gorgeous combos, Pam! I have purple heart (which isn’t hardy for us here) planted where it rambles between little bluestem grass and a mat of woolly thyme. My variegated ginger is in a pot, underplanted with portulaca. Both will be coming in for the winter… although now I’m tempted to let my ginger die back, leave it in the basement, and see how things go. (Space is at a premium here, argh! lol.)
Your bluestem/thyme/purple heart combo sounds delightful. Too bad it’s not hardy for you there, but it grows so fast I’m sure it works wonderfully as an annual. —Pam