Foliage Follow Up for July

Earlier this year I was feeling a bit bored with the plants in my garden. I planted a few new things and now everything is a bit more interesting with a few new characters in the mix. I decided to give Carex 'Sparkler' a try again after seeing how well it did in Pam's garden over at Digging. So far it is a happy camper. It is in a pot outside my office window at home and makes a great focal point to rest my eyes on while I'm planning designs. The fennel is going to bloom and I've been enjoying the wispy foliage mingling with the other plants.

I always leave the bloom stalks on the Aristea inaequalis because they turn a beautiful shade of pink as they mature - a nice discover after being a bit lazy with my deadheading one year. I guess the pink stems are not exactly foliage but they're not exactly blooms either. And my Cussonia paniculata is a treat with all the variety shades of foliage at different stages of growth.

I recently wrote a post about the joys of Stipa barbata and how it has hardly any "real" foliage. The show happens with the long waving tails of the seeds. These give me a lovely arching foliage effect in my parking strip that is brief, but ever-so-lovely as they float in the breeze before falling off to bury themselves in the soil.

I recently planted this giant, flabby, tiger-striped Kalanchoe. It is in a recently redone section in the back. Hopefully in a few months I'll have a shot of the whole composition as it fills in.

A new Pelargonium with silver foliage and my ever increasing Aloe plicatilis.

The edibles are starting to shine in the front yard. I've got red corn, two types of tomatillos, pole beans on tepees made out of bamboo thinnings and a red lettuce that has been a real champ, even through a couple of heat waves. I'm going to let the lettuce go to seed because I definitely want to grow this again next year.

Thanks to Pam for hosting the fabulous Foliage Follow-Up! Go check out some other fantastic foliage folks have going on this month.