Foliage and More

The primary focus of the day will be on foliage. I'm working on weeding the "Front Bed." I've got part of it done.

First I'll talk about the Variegated Ajuga. I bought this two years ago thinking it could go in the rock garden, but it absolutely would not tolerate the full sun. It wilted immediately and was in danger of dying. Now, it's happy here in the semi-shade. This shows the leaves last fall. They were darker at that time of year, but you can tell they are variegated.

It's blooming right now, and much to my surprise, the flowers are also mottled! I'm really liking this. And you can see that the leaves are lighter in the spring. This will spread rapidly now that it's happy. It sends out runners and I'm sure it will be nearly out of control in a couple of years.

It's beginning to spread and has a friend in the lovely 'Forbidden Fruit' Hosta, that I got for practically nothing in the fall of 2023.

Back out a little bit more, and there are two new friends. The hosta with wavy yellow leaves is 'Wiggles and Squiggles.' I got it last week for half price because it was small. It's tripled in size since I bought it.

The little blue one at front left is 'Mouse Ears' hosta. This is the one I got free at the garden club sale last fall because it had no leaves. But the root was alive, and it's already making a small clump this year. This hosta stays small and is very blue.

With something reddish in the center front, this will be a nice grouping. And I think I have something in mind.

And the Japanese Painted Fern is looking good again. I tried to encourage it to spread a little more last year. Can't tell if that was a success or not, but it's at least as big as it was. This will get a little fuller yet this year.

Finally for today, a foliage problem! This is what happens when you don't pay attention. This side of the front flower bed has only recently had much of a plan. I have thrown in some things that were gifts, I have moved a few things around, and surprise plants have appeared in clumps that came from other people's gardens.

So, I now have an Astilble, a Hosta, and a Corydalis growing right on top of each other. I'll get them separated soon. It's the perfect time. The Corydalis is done blooming. The Hosta isn't too large yet, and I'll try to disturb the Astilbe as little as possible. It will stay there. The Hosta came from Ester with other things a long time ago, and I have no idea what kind it is, but it stays medium-sized and blue.

I did all my usual computer things, and spent a fair amount of time weeding this garden today. There is enough stuff in this section now that I will probably do a "report" on it in the near future.

See Front Garden Report 2024 #3