Category: Foliage plants
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Ruscus hypoglossum
This is the plant if you need something for the darkest,driest, spot in the garden, you could probably grow it in a cupboard, in fact it won’t like you if you try growing it in a sunny spot! It is actually an evergreen perennial although it looks more like a shrub and it grows to
Stephen Ryan
Rumex sanguineus
Red Veined Dock does’t sound too good but it is a great plant in so many ways. Yes it is a Dock weed but its stunning bright green leaves with a network of blood red veins makes it a foliage plant with great presence in any garden. The leaves can be blanched and added to
Stephen Ryan
Sequoiadendron giganteum ‘Pendulum’
This has to be about the wierdest tree in the world so those of a timid disposition should avoid it! The leaders usually head in a generally upward direction with the side branches cascading down making it potentially the worlds tallest but narrowest tree. The one in Bobnant Gardens in Wales was at some time
Stephen Ryan
Berberis julianae ‘Spring Glory’
I imported this shrub some time back and it didn’t have a recognised name at the time and was called something or other of Hort. There is a picture of this very plant in Michael Dirr’s book and the above is what he calls it. So it will have to do for now. Whatever it
Stephen Ryan
Fothergilla ‘Mt. Airy’
This has to be one of my favourite small shrubs for a cool spot with acid soil. It is a hybrid between the two species of the Genus although it is often listed as a form of F. major. It grows slowly to a metre or more and in spring is a mass of fluffy
Stephen Ryan
Disporum sessile ‘Variegatum’
If you want something to brighten up a dark spot and do it fairly quickly this plant could be for you. It runs around and makes sizable drifts but never swamps plants it grows with so it nicely ties any planting together. It gets to about 30cms. tall with arching branched stems and the main
Stephen Ryan
Aristotelia fruticosa
This rarely offered New Zealand ever-bronze shrub should not be ignored by we gardeners and for the following reasons: It is upright and narrow to 3 metres or so making it ideal in narrow beds, between windows or as a narrow eye catching feature plant. The tiny bronze-green leaves make it texturally interesting and although
Stephen Ryan
Rubus lineatus
This has to be one of the best foliage plants that I grow. It is a Raspberry (or Blackberries) relative which makes suckering clumps of bamboo like stems up to 3metres tall. Its compound palmate leaves are beautifully pleated with a silvery reverse and evergreen. It likes moist semi-shade and can make large colonies if
Stephen Ryan