Foliage Follow Up...June 2010

Agave lophantha

I love flowers.  But, my favorite thing in the garden, is the foliage. 

Flowers are like sprinkles, on top of a cupcake.  They're pretty...they add interest.  But, the real substance, is the cupcake.....the foliage.

coleus

Foliage comes in every color of the rainbow.

Persian Shield and coleus

You get color, without flowers.

Spider or Airplane plant, Chlorophytum comosum

It works in shade.

Two shades of sweet potato vine.

Or, bright sunshine.

Cuban oregano

I particularly like variegated foliage.

Oyster plant,  Tradescantia spathacea

Nasturtium

Black Pearl pepper

Mexican Feather grass,  Nasella tenuissima

Grasses for sun...

Inland Seaoats

...and, for shade.

Artichoke agave

Textures range from pointy....

Powis Castle artemisia

...to soft and feathery.

Our 'back-from-the-dead' Sago Palm

Prickly....

Lamb's Ear, Stachys byzantina

..to soft and fuzzy.

Pencil cactus, Euphorbia tirucalli

This is the 'small piece' of a Pencil Cactus that our neighbor Elli gave us last winter.  Hers was too big to get back in the house.  It's a bit hard to make look good, in a photo.

I think it likes its new spot.  See the new growth....interesting.

Haworthia attenuata

In fact, succulents have some of the most interesting foliage.  The flowers on this one, are not much to celebrate.

But, look at that foliage.

Even 'wild' foliage adds interest.  This Virginia Creeper is lush and green.  I wired this sunflower feeder to the fence, amidst the green vine.  The squirrels have chewed the wood and the wire.  So, now it's not a feeder....it's an ornament.....more yard art.

In Texas, when the heat sets in, the blooms back off.  That's when we really depend on great foliage to make our gardens look alive.

If you want to see more green, and other colors of foliage, go over and visit  Pam at Digging, for

Foliage Follow-up Day.

What are your favorite foliage plants?

Then there's this:

I went out to check the veggie bed, as I do morning and afternoon.  You have to stay on your toes, to keep ahead of tomato Hornworms.  I don't like Hornworms.

Well....this is what I found.  I've never seen this before.  Whoa!...I freaked out a little.  Not before getting a picture.  I have a blog, after all.

Then, with gloved hand, I peeled him off the stem and stepped on him.  I didn't kill all the little white things, though. 

Then, I came in and checked my Texas Bug Book.  Turns out the little white things are Braconid Wasp pupae  cocoons.  These little wasps lay their eggs in caterpillars, and the pupae feed on the caterpillar bodies.

So, the white things are good guys....sort of.  I suppose they eat ALL caterpillars. 

Isn't it great, how we learn new things in the garden, every day?

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda...