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Leaves With Largesse

My spring season has been notable for heavy and regular rains.  Every leaf seems twice its normal size, and twice as juicy.  As a result, I have been thinking about leaves with largesse-those leaves that reward a gardener’s eye with their generously scaled appearance.  Plants with big leaves always catch my eye; I love lush in a landscape. The Kong coleus series features big leaves.  But none of the series with color capture my heart like this green cultivar.  The leaves are like velvet-stunning.  

My photograph offers little in the way of scale, but these leaves are huge.  Bear in mind they are still growing in 4″ square pots-what will they do, given free range via an expanse of garden soil?  A case of 4″ pots takes up a lot of square footage-I think I will plant some of these coleus, somewhere.

Cannas have big blue green leaves.  This plant is a living sculpture-never mind the flowers.  They look dark green and juicy, even when the air temperature is close to 100 degrees.  This canna variety Orange Punch I planted in my roof boxes, and in the 6 pots in front of the shop.  I am intrigued by the color orange this year, but those big leaves will provide stature, volume, and scale appropriate to the size of the building.  The big green leaves of cannas-luxuriant. 

The heavy spring rains proved to be a big dose of multi-vitamins to my Sum and Substance hosta.  The leaves are so large this year they scrape the sides of my Suburban when I back out of the drive. Not so many plants that are hardy in my zone have that overscaled tropical look; large leaved hostas can grace large shady areas with hundreds of umbrella sized leaves.  All of these chartreuse umbrellas-looking good.

The coleus Rainbowe Festive Dance has extraordinary coloration.  Olive green, orange, hot pink-do you see the French blue green on the edges of those big leaves?  The coleus variety on the left side of this photograph has medium sized leaves, and muddy coloration.  This variety does not pique my interest nearly as much.  Big leaves, whether green or of color, are exclamatory statement in a garden.  I am talking about rhythm.  Big leaves slow down and engage the eye.  Use them where you want the eye to pause, absorb, and reflect, before moving on.  

My butterburrs-how I love them, and how I hate them.  The giant green leaves are a texture like no other in my garden.  The flip side-they are invasive, and impossible to eradicate.  Do not plant one, unless you have plans to live with it til death do you part.  I am forever chopping them out of places they do not belong.  Once I dug up this entire bed, and threw away every scrap of root I could find.  They came roaring back two weeks later.  I decided to go along with their program.  Early every spring Gary Bopp, the grower for Wiregand’s nursery, comes and digs out all of those plants that have wandered away from this bed.  He could easily come again-I see some popping up 20 feet away from this spot.  Their giant leaves make them worth having-just be prepared to do battle, regularly.     

The dracaena “Janet Craig” does not have giant leaves per se, but the width of these strappy leaves is considerable.  The chartreuse color makes it impossible to miss.  They are happy in deep shade; this makes them a very useful focal point in dark places. In fact, any sun whatsoever will burn the leaves.    

I have always planted caladiums in shady places.  Imagine my surprise seeing a municipal planting of this white leaved variety along a busy downtown street, in full sun.  They made such a strong statement in a visually confusing setting.  They were thriving-not a sunburn mark anywhere.  Some plants that ordinarily want some protection from sun can thrive in sunny spots, given sufficient water.    

Nicotiana mutabilis is one of my most favorite annual flowers.  I love that tall and airy look.  I usually pull off the giant leaves that growe at the bottom, so my underplantings can get some light.  This city of Birmingham pot I planted some years ago had no such maintenanace-and all for the better.  The giant leaves are as much a part of the beauty of this planting as the flowering stalks.   


Few plants have large leaves that could rival the beauty of this crested Farfugium Japonicum.  These giant, shiny and substantial leaves are an exciting visual study in big curves and flounces.  Would that they were hardy in my zone.  They are fairly easy to winter over indoors.  The yellow flowers, somewhat similar to their relative the ligularia, are not nearly so beautiful as the leaves.  Leaves such as these-a visual feast.

Posted on: June 19, 2011 Leave a Comment
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The Garden Cruise 2011

There are but 10 annual plantings left to go this season-I am very happy to be on the far side of what is the most intensely felt and most rigorously engaging part of my gardening year.  I did have a client tell me yesterday that it was too late for me to plant herb pots for them.  For Pete’s sake, I told him, the first day of summer is ten days away.  I am trying myself to keep that in mind-my pots at home are barely half done. In the cracks between the days, I have been organizing our 4th annual garden tour to benefit the Greening of Detroit.  The fabulous garden pictured above is but one of 7 gardens on tour this year.  Please save the date – Sunday, July 17, from 9 to 4:30.  

The Greening of Detroit has been actrively involved in the reforestation of my city for the past 21 years.  I greatly admire their focus, and their results.  In recent years, they have sponsored over 600 urban farms. They teach.  They never give in or give out.  I am in awe of what they have been able to accomplish; I even more admire their dreams.  It is my simple intent to provide my clients with a landscape better than they thought they could have it.  It is even more important to me that they experience and engage with their environment in a successful way.  I sit on the board of the Greening, but I am not much good with meetings.  The only way really for me to help them is to try to raise money in support of their programs. The landscapes and gardens are of my design, or influence.  One landscape was designed and planted from scratch 15 years ago.  Another was designed and planted from scratch last year.  Some gardens are renovations.  One garden has but one connection to me; his mother is one of my oldest and best clients.  His garden is solely of his own making-and beautifully made at that.  You won’t want to miss it.   

My garden is on tour, as usual.  I tinker with it often enough every year that there is always something new to see.  At least people do not seem to get bored with it.  Another member of my group has graciously agreed to put his garden on tour-my landscape superintendent. This garden goes far beyond a design and installation.  Almost everything in his garden has been handmade by him.  A beautiful privacy fence and pergola.  A fountain.  A terrace of handmade concrete tiles.  Anyone with an interest in creating a gorgeous garden space with their own two hands will find a lot to look at here. 

The 7 gardens are uniquely styled.  I would say my garden is very traditional and formal.  There is a very contemporary garden, and a traditional garden with contemporary overtones.  There is a classic French influenced English garden and a cottage style garden.  A 1970’s modern garden on a large piece of property is in contrast to a small, intimate and uniquely styled garden.  Many points of view are persuasively represented. 

I am hoping that if you live in this area, you will join us for the tour, and the afterglow reception at Detroit Garden Works.  In return for your contribution to the Greening of Detroit, we promise an exciting day of touring gardens, and great gin and tonics at the close. 


For more information, see our cruise website:  www.thegardencruise.org

Posted on: June 17, 2011 3 Comments
Filed Under: Garden Design, Detroit Garden Works Tagged With: ,

A Little Change

A little change can turn out to be a very big change.

See what I mean?


Scale, volume, shape, mass and porportion-these elements are so important to good design.

Posted on: June 16, 2011 1 Comment
Filed Under: Garden Design

Orange Punch

The idea for the 2011 annual gardens at the shop started with these pots at a client’s house.  I did not plant these-I was there consulting on another matter entirely.  I was so struck by how beautiful the orange cannas were-the flowers reminded me much of a clivia. She told me she got them from Telly’s Greenhouse; I called George straight away this spring to see if he planned to carry them again.  When he told me he had hundreds of them for sale, I responded in kind.  I planted lots them in the roof boxes, and in all 6 of the big concrete pots out front.   


It is a strikingly beautiful flower. Lushly tropical in appearance, it looks even better against a blue sky.  The large, juicy looking blue green leaves are just as attractive as the flowers.  I could feel a scheme coming on. 

Margaret Roach egged me on; she posted about a new Potunia variety called Papaya.  I called George again-was he growing this potunia?  The color is every bit as unusual and luscious as Margaret promised. They seem to be a decent growers-this is a big plus in an annual plant. I planted it in the ground with neon petunias.  I am a fan of orange and carmine together.  The color orange in annual plants is highly variable. There are those yellow toned carrot oranges-as in Magellan zinnias and Orange Punch cannas.  There is that brilliant medium orange on steriods, as in Sonic Scarlet New Guinea impatiens.  There are those blue tinged oranges, as in Caliente ornage geraniums, and these Papaya potunias. 

Surprisingly, all of the oranges do not look so swell together.  I needed to mix some other colors to create a sense of visual community.  The very dark carmine potunias and a little lemon yellow from yellow supertunias, vanilla butterfly marguerites and trailing lantana gives this container a happy family look.  I could feel a party coming on.

The Sonic series of New Guinea impatiens deliver a jolt of orange like no other plant I know of.  Given enough sun and plenty of water, they perform beautifully.I was warming up to the idea of a wide mix of colors in celebration of the color orange in the windowboxes and beds.       

The boxes have lime nicotiana (a staple green in my gardening diet), misty lilac wave petunias, orange dahlias, orange geraniums, Butterfly marguerites, and neon petunias.  To come, some dark purple trailing verbena, and some lavender star verbena.  The corner pot has those Sonic scarlet New Guineas in it-I have not quite figured out what else should go with it.

The Solenia series of begonias are my favorites-they are the most forgiving of  of any large flowered begonia. They also tolerate a good bit of sun.  The toothy olive green coleus with the dark red violet stems?  I do not have a name, but I really like the look. 

On the roof, I planted my beloved Elegant Feather grass-it is a beautiful plant from a distance, and it breaks the wind that whip around up there.  The cannas are small, but they will beef up quickly; it is always hot up there.  Caliente geraniums are a great performer in difficult situations, and they flower continually without any coaxing.  The trailing vinca maculatum are plants from last summer that I wintered over in hanging baskets-I hope they will drape way down the front wall.   

Perhaps the most exotic looking plant in my summer orange repertoire is a coleus called Rainbow Festive Dance.  Bordines grows this plant, and they have great 4″ pots of it right now.  My photograph does not really do it justice; it is olive , orange, carmine and parrot green-on every leaf.  I cannot wait to see these plants grow large.


The bed inside the boxwood is planted with Dazzler Blush impatiens (it has a distinctive orange and carmine eye) Super Elfin Blue Pearl, and solid orange impatiens.  I am hoping it will look like confetti sprinkled thickly on the ground.  A twenty minute soak with my fountain sprinklers, and the bed is thoroughly wet.  Our 4th annual garden tour to benefit the Greening of Detroit is scheduled for Sunday July 17th.  We host a party afterwards-we’ll be ready for company.

Posted on: June 15, 2011 8 Comments
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