We are fast approaching the end of 2016 and I’m dreamin’ of Spring and singin’ the blues — garden blues.
Before you are seduced by the glossy photos in 2017 plant catalogs, I’d like to bring to your attention a number of captivating “blue” plants that have been time-tested in my organic garden:
Rhododendron ‘Turquoise and Gold’ is a 3 foot tall, mildew-resistant (for me, mildew-free) deciduous azalea. For twelve years the shrub has exceeded expectations with lush displays of beautiful, deliciously fragrant golden flowers, and healthy, blue-hued foliage. Photos below.
copyright 2016 – Lois Sheinfeld
copyright 2016 – Lois Sheinfeld
Abies koreana ‘Silberlocke’ (Korean Fir) is a compact, slow-growing (3-6 inches a year) evergreen conifer — a distinctive tree, with upright blue cones in Spring, and wondrous, tightly curled, green needled foliage with silver undersides. Photo below. (I should note that for the first few years in my garden the tree’s greenish-white cones never turned blue. Why? I haven’t a clue.)
copyright 2016 – Lois Sheinfeld
Pinus parviflora ‘Glauca'(a/k/a Glauca Group) is a tall, vigorous, very cold-hardy Japanese White Pine. This handsome tree has evergreen, blue-green-silvery foliage and is embellished in the Spring with an abundance of pink — yes, pink! — cones. And ‘Glauca’ has been problem free for 25 years. Photos below of the cones and foliage.
copyright 2016 – Lois Sheinfeld
copyright 2016 – Lois Sheinfeld
Finally, another shout out for Henna Coleus. (See Post: “September 2016: Ode To Late Summer”.) Henna isn’t blue, but deserving of celebration nonetheless. While her Coleus container companions died in October, Henna continued to flaunt her ruffles thru Thanksgiving. I replaced the dead plants with conifer stems. A whole new look. Photo below.
copyright 2016 – Lois Sheinfeld