Article & photos by Andrea Durrheim
“Green is the prime colour of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.” Pedro Calderon de la Barca
W
hen we shop for
plants, we often
concentrate on the
flowers rather than
foliage colours and textures. Of
course, when we are confronted by
gorgeous blooms, it can be difficult
to look any further, but whether
your garden is indigenous, exotic or
a combination of the two, the foliage colour and texture are actually
even more important than the
Asparagus Cwebe
blooms.
With a few exceptions (mostly belonging to the daisy family), most
plants have a specific flowering season. They may produce occasional
blooms at other times of the year,
but for three seasons out of four,
you’ll be looking at foliage rather
than flowers. That isn’t a bad thing,
a green garden provides a wonderful backdrop for your seasonal flowerers and there’s something so tran-
Asparagus virgatus
quil about the many shades of
green, gold, silver and purple that
good foliage plant selections can
create.
It’s not only the colours of foliage
that can be enchanting, but also
the texture. If a plant has fine textured leaves, it creates a soft effect
and can be used to create an impression of depth. Plants with big
leaves make good focal points and
help to create a sense of drama.
Artemesia