Screen With Envy


Forget Using Just Flowers for Color


Iris Watson
Photo by Al Wright
" Privacy” denotes freedom from the presence or observation of those not concerned—or whom we desire not to be concerned—with our affairs. In some more congested metropolitan areas, the perception of privacy is the best we can hope for. This holds true in our homes. I can recall a number of gardens I have been in where one walks out the back door into a veritable fishbowl where there might be five or more residences that look down into the garden. Private? I don’t think so.
    If you feel exposed to the whole neighborhood (or just one particular neighbor) when in your own backyard, there are several things you need to determine before you rush out and plant a forest of giant redwoods. Pick a plant that gets as high as you need it, not necessarily higher. Why choose a tree that genetically wants to grow to 40 feet when a lovely 12-foot shrub would do? Most trees will be almost as wide at maturity as they are tall, and trees can drastically change the sun/shade factors in your garden. And where do you need the privacy—when you’re on your patio, inside your family room, upstairs in the bedroom?
    A good way to get a sense of exactly how tall the screen should be is to push a measuring stick of some sort into the ground where you want the screen and then view it from as many vantage points as you can. Once you have a perspective on the size needed, bring photos to your nurseryperson and look at as many options as you can before making a choice. The right plant in the right place for the right purpose can cut back maintenance considerably.

Color Coded


    Bonnie Howard, one of my co-workers, said something rather profound the other day. (Actually, she says something profound almost every day, but that is another story.) We were discussing the garden of a customer who wanted “an abundance of flowers everywhere” but also wanted low maintenance, and Bonnie said, “You should remember that every beautiful flower will be a dead flower in a few weeks.” More flowers do equal more maintenance, but flowers aren’t the only way to add color to a garden.
    Once you train your eye to see color in other parts of the plants, a whole new concept in gardening opens up. Fortunately, science and nature have combined to create new plants and variations of familiar plants. For instance:
    Coprosma repens—unbelievably shiny and glossy leaves are the common characteristic of this wonderful shrub. It grows to 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide, but if pruned twice yearly to a specific height, it has a beautiful, dense form. Marble Queen has pure creamy-white leaves splashed with lime green; Pink Splendor has green leaves with soft yellow margins that develop a
distinct rosy-orange on the ruffled edge. Coppershine is a coppery brown with a dark green edge; Carnival is much like Pink Splendor but with smaller leaves and deeper pink and orange tones.
    Loropetalum chinense—a neat, compact habit with tiers of arching or drooping branches are wonderful, but the colors
are this shrub’s claim to fame. Plum Delight and Pizzaz have a rich, deep
burgundy/plum-colored foliage with magenta flowers. Razzelberry foliage comes in a nice rusty red and ages to deep, dark green so that there is always a variety of colors on it. Snow Dancer has bright, apple-green foliage and white flowers.
    Abelia grandiflora—graceful, arching branches and small but softly fragrant blooms are the common characteristics, but there’s more: Edward Gaucher, with lacy, glossy leaves that are bronzy-green in new growth but age to darkest green. Francis Mason is compact, even lacier and densely branched with shiny, bright-green leaves splashed with golden yellow. Confetti is really compact with tight, lacy foliage that is shiny, soft gray/green with pink and white splashes.
    These plants are not even the tip of the iceberg of what is available. The ornamental grasses alone—every shade of green imaginable, burgundy, orange, rust, tan, striped, blue, gray, even true red—could fill pages. And of course the herbaceous perennials—electric lime greens, white, cream, pink, orange, yellow, and every shade in between—could take your breath away, and we haven’t even mentioned the blossom colors.
    You know, over the years I have been involved in the horticulture business (since 1976), I have seen numerous plants go in and out of favor with the gardening public. I have also seen the same plants take on a new life and increased interest when improved selections hit the market.  Last year was the year for succulents. But if you want to see a beautiful palette of colors in foliage, look at shrubbery. Best of all, they look stunning combined with grasses and perennials in colors you couldn’t have dreamed of.
    Flowers will always have first place in our hearts and gardens, but foliage color is a close second—and getting closer!

IRIS WATSON

The author and her husband, John, own Thomsen’s Garden Center & Vines, 1113 Lincoln Ave. She’s on “Playing in the Dirt” 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays on Comcast Channel 28.