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Late Color - Part 2 - Page 4

© Marge Talt

Hardy begonias are true stalwarts of the shady garden from USDA zone 5 (with protection) south. I've got them all over my garden because they drop their small axillar bulblets all over the place. I've talked about them a lot; I wouldn't be without them. In addition to the incredible color on the undersides of their leaves and their nice pink flowers in late summer, they keep on providing color at the end of their season. The leaves fade and the stems and dead flowerheads turn rust and glow when backlit by the sun, warming both the garden and the gardener on a nippy day.

Barberry leaf color ranges from yellow to green to purple, with the cultivar 'Rose Glow' even providing stripes of pink and white on new foliage. I've got that one and 'Crimson Velvet' as well as another tall purple leafed one. All of them turn shades of rust and maroon in fall in my shady garden - with interesting tinges of green inside the shrubs and on their shady sides. You'll get more color if you can give them half day or more sun. They all produce bright red berries that sparkle amongst the somber tones of the leaves. I'm quite fond of my barberries, despite their propensity for collecting wind-blown leaves and holding on to them with their sharp thorns. I tell myself I'm fond of them as I stand on one foot, reaching gingerly inside the shrubs in spring to fish out the leaves without getting snagged. But, I really am, even if I do practice my swear words on them during clean up. They make good hedges for keeping out the neighborhood dogs and small children, as well as providing leaf color all season. I am fascinated by their minute yellow flowers, stained maroon - you have to get very close to see them well. I find they do seed around a bit, and many of the seedlings revert to green, although some come true.

Last, but by no means least, is the Oakleaf Hydrangea - one of my favorite shrubs. Look at the range of color in these leaves! From deep eggplant to wine to blood red. The leaves are huge, this group extended past the scope of my flatbed scanner. Each leaf is covered in minute hairs that make them sparkle in the sun. The unfolding leaves in early spring are furry and almost white. Form is rangy but interesting, with exfoliating bark on older cinnamon colored stems. They will sucker over time (takes them a while to think about this), expanding the circumference of the stand. And the flowers! Well, foot long racemes of white, becoming steeped in wine before they turn brown, are hard to beat. Those of you north of USDA zone 6 may not get flowers each year because this shrub blooms on old wood, setting its buds in late summer for the next year, and they can get frosted. But, it's worth trying in a sheltered spot, just for the foliage alone.

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