Nine shrubs and groundcovers with various shades of yellow and gold foliage, all meant to brighten the garden, are featured in this year’s Beautiful Gardens lineup.
Since 2009, the Virginia-based plant introduction program has tested and promoted new and underused ornamental species for cold hardiness zones that range from Zones 4-8. Partners in the project include the Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association, Department of Horticulture at Virginia Tech, Virginia Cooperative Extension, master gardeners and test sites such as Norfolk Botanical Garden.
Linda Pinkham, a professional gardener in Smithfield, Va., helps select nominations for the program and grows many of them for her own personal perspective.
If you think yellow plants look weak and unhealthy in a garden, Pinkham thinks differently, based on years of professional experience.
“Yellow is the happiest color, the one that advances the most toward the eye, the one that can be a unifying addition to a mix of plants,” she says. “Plants in gold and yellow have to be placed wisely — not lined up in rows or symmetrical patterns, but dispersed throughout the garden to make it ‘pop.’
“My husband, Bill the landscape designer, had trouble persuading clients to let him add yellow plants to the site. I kept telling him he had to say ‘chartreuse’ instead of yellow. All good flower arrangers know that no matter what colors you use in an arrangement, using a little, or a lot, of chartreuse will make it
‘sing.’ ”
Les Parks, curator of herbaceous plants at Norfolk Botanical Garden in southeastern Virginia, is also partial to bright, bold foliage.
“Used in the garden, gold or chartreuse has a real way of bringing in light, particularly in shady situations,” he says. “The colors also mix well with burgundy, purples and black.”
You’ll find many of the Beautiful Gardens plants available at garden centers.
Here’s a close look at some of this year’s selections:
Mother Lode juniper, or Juniperus horizontalis Mother Lode (Zones 4-7). Creeping, flat evergreen has brilliant gold foliage that goes bronze in winter. Deer-resistant, it spreads 6-8 feet but stays 4-6 inches tall; it needs full sun and tolerates drought.
Little Honey oakleaf hydrangea, or Hydrangea quercifolia Little Honey (Zones 5-9). “It’s a good plant for shady spots, even if it never blooms,” says Parks. “It stays small (4 feet tall and wide), has attractive white flowers, the bark exfoliates and the bright yellow foliage turns a nice burgundy red in fall.” Give the plant part shade and well-drained soil.
Mellow Yellow spirea, or Spiraea thunbergii Ogon (Zones 4-8). “This is my favorite on the list,” says Parks. “It produces dainty, baby’s breath-like flowers. The real draw for me is the golden-to-yellow green foliage on arching branches, which adds a fine texture to the garden. In the fall, the plant tends to lose its green tints and goes more golden.” The deer-resistant plant grows 4-5 feet tall and wide and attracts butterflies.
“Ogon can be pruned hard each winter to keep it 3-4 feet tall and wide,” says landscape designer Peggy Krapf of Heart’s Ease Landscape and Garden Design in James City County, Va. “It works well with a contemporary or informal style landscape.”
Golden Japanese spikenard, or Aralia cordata Sun King (Zones 4-8). The evergreen quickly forms a plant 4-5 feet tall and wide. Contrasting reddish-brown stems support its bright yellow, tropical-looking foliage; in late summer, interesting racemes of tiny white flowers attract honeybees and are followed by black berries. It likes part shade and is deer resistant.
All Gold forest grass, or Hakonochloa macra All Gold (Zones 5-9). Deer-resistant grass spreads to form 18-inch-high and 24-inch-wide clumps that glow chartreuse in shade and brighter gold in sun.
Brigadoon St. John’s wort, or Hypericum calycinum Brigadoon (Zones 5-7). “This gold-leaf St. John’s wort is grown primarily for the foliage,” says Parks. “In shadier sites, it’s more chartreuse green, and with more sun, it’s yellower. More groundcover than shrub, it stays mostly evergreen. Exposed to cold weather, the leaves take on an orange to red cast.”
ONLINE
— Beautiful Gardens at beautifulgardens.org
— Norfolk Botanical Garden at norfolkbotanicalgarden.org
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