A gardening friend suggested I write a post about variegated plants...because I don't like variegated plants. It sounded like a fun challenge, so I pored over countless images of mottled & piebald, searching for specimens with interesting colors, streaks, and swirls. But, like, low-key streaks, and swirls...
- Brunnera macrophylla (Siberian bugloss) 'Jack Frost' is definitely my favorite of the bunch- a shower of tiny sky-blue flowers hover over silvery leaves. The 'Looking Glass' variety has leaves that are so silvery, in fact, that many of the photos I found looked like those black & white photos that have one element (say, a red rose) colored in. Surreal! Northern Shade Gardening has wonderful photos and information about these and other Brunnera varieties.
- I can't decide how I feel about Thujopsis dolobrata "Variegata". I love green and cream together, but if I had a shrub like this one from Walaszczyk Nursery, I think I would always worry it was dying. What do you think?
- Color Flash Astilbe Astilbe x arendsii 'Beauty of Ernst' is very pretty, and would provide a bit of those fall colors that this Midwestern girl misses here in California. Sherry's Place reports that "New leaves start out as bright green and turn purple and burgundy as they age, so the plant is always several colors. In the fall, the leaves are supposed to turn a vibrant orange and gold." Sounds lovely.
- Garden Design Magazine calls Coleus Solenostemon 'Pink Chaos' "an explosion of neon paisley". Is that exactly what your garden's been missing?
- 'Snow-On-The-Mountain (Euphorbia marginata) is a dainty little native wildflower with a cluster of tiny blossoms surrounded by green and white streaked leaves. This photo was taken by Doug Wirtz for the Kansas Native Plant Society, and it makes me think I could love this variegated beauty — so nice & neat!
- These last two photos are both of Japanese Hydrangea Vine Schizophragma hydrangeoides 'Moonlight'. The first image, from Youngblood Nursery, shows off its "silvery blue-green foliage". The second, from Water Daily, shows how the silver sheen contrasts wonderfully with the deep-green veins. These are both supposed to be the exact same plant, so perhaps the color changes throughout the year? This vine also features "creamy, scented, lacecap blooms" in the summer, but all I care about are those gorgeous leaves.
(Images: as credited above.)
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It has its place, like most things. My favorite is Heuchera though. I fell in love with them after finding some in the wild years and years ago at my grandparents place. There are so many wonderful cultivars out there now, several of which are in my backyard. Plus, they are evergreen. Not too many evergreen perennials at the garden center that I am aware of.
I have a jack frost in my yard and it really is lovely. It should spread to provide ground cover as well.
Snow on the Mountain is anything but neat. It spreads like wildfire. It is a great groundcover for shady areas but it will never be a specimen plant....for longer than one month.
Nice title for this topic!
The Euphorbia marginata is quite nice. I've tried to warm to that Brunnera cultivar, but just can't persuade myself that I want variegated foliage on it. The regular old brunnera is a fine, scrappy little guy which will pop up with its lovely blue flowers and then recede into the background for the rest of the year.
An additional suggestion, variegated Solomon's Seal, Polygonatum falcatum 'variegatum' is quite lovely - the white stripes somehow highlight the curve of the stem. After a year or so of growing, it will start to spread and give you a nice patch of the stuff.
Last weekend I saw these amazing begonia escargot plants at the gardening center and had to force myself to not buy them (limited balcony space, so I try to buy only plants with a purpose). They are so incredible, though! The spiral leaves just blow my mind. Friggin' nature, man.
In the comments on another post, about mint, I raved about the variegated leaves of the pineapple mint--super-pretty, tasty, fragrant, and hardy enough to survive my sub-par gardening skills. As long as you contain it so that it doesn't overtake your garden, it's great!
Variegation has its place in my garden. I quite like a lot of variegated hostas and heuchera in shady areas, and I have tons of that bugloss. To me it is one more way to make the tapestry of the garden interesting, along with color, height, and texture.