Grassy scrims and yucca color for Foliage Follow-Up
As I write this, an icy wind is flinging plastic pots and flapping draped sheets that are supposed to be sheltering certain freeze-tender plants in my garden. All I will say about that is that this is not the winter I signed up for. Happily, most of my garden is winter tough, including lovely native grasses like pine muhly (Muhlenbergia dubia) and colorful golden yuccas (Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’). Even frothy silver ‘Powis Castle’ artemisia holds up decently for most of the winter.
Pine muhly closeup
‘Color Guard’ yucca offers lemon-lime color all winter long.
And check out those cool thread-like filaments along the leaf edges.
Texas sotol (Dasylirion texana) is also a winter workhorse, remaining evergreen and beautiful no matter the weather.
This is my January post for Foliage Follow-Up. Fellow bloggers, what leafy loveliness is happening in your garden this month? Please join me in giving foliage its due on the day after Bloom Day. Leave a link to your post in a comment below. I’d appreciate it if you’ll also link to my post in your own — sharing link love! I look forward to seeing your foliage faves.
I welcome your comments; please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading this in a subscription email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment box at the end of each post.
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Your garden never looks sad to me Pam. You have orchestrated the plantings so you have color all year. I am working toward that. I actually have a Foliage Follow Up this month. Pictures aren’t so hot but with the minus temps of this winter it makes me happy to have a few greens to share.
http://greenbowgardens.blogspot.com/2018/01/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-and-garden.html
Thanks, Lisa. I do have a lot of evergreens, so it doesn’t ever feel sad to me either, even when we get a winter that’s much harsher than I would prefer (for us). —Pam
Our lack of snow (until yesterday) means that foliage has been starring in the garden all winter so far. I wish I got enough sun to grow that Yucca. What a statement plant that is. My post is here: http://www.lindabrazill.com/each_little_world/2018/01/foliage-follow-up-1162018.html
The grass is always greener, Linda! I love all your conifers and wish I could grow them here. —Pam
We’ve been having warmer than usual temperatures (64 degrees yesterday) here lately which are causing us to think that spring has arrived. Sorry that winter is not treating you quite so well. One could never tell from your glorious foliage! My post is here: https://outlawgarden.blogspot.com/2018/01/foliage-follow-up-january-2018.html
I think the PNW has stolen our normally lovely Texas winter weather. Send it back! 🙂 —Pam
Pam-your garden always looks beautiful, even in winter and your foliage combinations are perfect! I hope the cold temperatures you have been getting don’t do any harm. It has been unusually cold here as well, with temperatures in the single digits for weeks with slight warming trends here and there. Here is my Foliage Follow-Up for January:
http://landscapedesignbylee.blogspot.com/2018/01/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-foliage.html#.Wl4bEeZOmhA
Your cold puts ours to shame, but then we and our gardens are decidedly not used to it. I’m ready for spring! —Pam
It sounds like you got hit with the kind of winter we suffered last year. Like yours, my Yuccas and grasses emerged unscathed, but I agree with you. That kind of extended cold, when not part of your expectations, totally suck! On a positive note – that Muhlenbergia dubia is such a great grass – I absolutely love how it echoes the form of the yuccas, and how tough it is. Super elegant! Small progress in my garden this month. https://flutterandhum.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/foliage-follow-up-day-january-2018/
I discovered pine muhly relatively recently, and now I’m in love with those long inflorescences and its spherical form. —Pam
Hi Pam
Compared to my garden your garden has loads of interest for January. Here is my Foliage Follow-Up post which is a little thin as I have combined it with Wordless Wednesday
https://patientgardener.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/wordless-wednesday-foliage-follow-up/
Thanks for joining in with a foliage appreciation post, Helen! —Pam
I heard that Texas was getting hit with a nasty wintry mix. Stay safe Pam! My winter is MUCH milder, although sadly lacking in rain. The succulents don’t care much, though: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2018/01/foliage-follow-up-mostly-succulents.html
We got whammied for the 3rd time this winter. Ay yi yi — this is SO not the winter I wanted before the Fling, but it is what it is, and I know that spring will be all the sweeter for it. —Pam
It took me a couple of days, but I finally got a FF post up. We’ve had a few really nice days — dry and sunny and temps in the 50s, so I’ve been working in the garden as much as I can. You probably think that’s cold, but to me it’s balmy. Sorry you’ve been hit with some cold and wintry weather. My FF post is here: http://bonneylassie.blogspot.com/2018/01/wednesday-vignettefoliage-followup.html
Temps in the 50s, especially if sunny, sounds like perfect gardening weather to me. Lucky you to be enjoying lovely dry weather in the PNW. I don’t know whose weather we’ve had lately, with temps in the teens, but I want our normal winter back! Anyway, thanks for joining in with FFU. 🙂 —Pam
Colour guard yucca is a striking plant to enhance a border at anytime of year.
It really is, and impervious to heat and cold. —Pam
It’s hard to imagine Texas getting such frigid weather! I hope your gardens pull through. Your hardier selections provide a nice pop of color in the winter garden. The muhlenbergia dubia is so striking despite the weather.
It’s one of my favorites fall through winter, when it shines with those tall inflorescences. —Pam