Foliage -- The Living Palette Part 2
As I write, an icy rain beats relentlessly on my sleeping USDA zone 7 garden. This makes it doubly pleasurable to turn my mind to the many nuances of foliage. All of you in the southern hemisphere are reveling in your summer gardens now, but winter has a firm grip on the north. So, whether you just came in from tending your summer bounty or you're surrounded by snow and ice, come along with me. Let's explore more facets of our living palette.
In addition to the colors and patterns inherent in leaves, there are other foliage tools for us to use when creating our gardens. Each plant has leaves of a specific composition, shape and texture that establish the overall form of the plant. For some plants, overall form is the predominant feature; for others, unique attributes of the leaf are what attracts us.
Shape
There are at least twenty distinct leaf shapes and these shapes have accepted names in the botanical world. I find I'm slow to absorb the proper terminology, but it helps to know these names, or at least recognize them, when trying to identify a plant, since most plant descriptions refer to leaf shapes by these names — often in cryptic abbreviations.
When I'm planning a new border, I don't think "Hmmm . . . guess I need some oblancelot leaves over here"; I just mentally visualize the plant and where it would work best (and be happiest). But, I do think about leaf shapes, as well as their other attributes, because those shapes are part of the palette I'm using to "paint" the picture that is my garden.
One shape I do consciously think about by name, though, is the narrow leaves referred to as linear in shape. They contribute important contrasts to the more generally rounded form of most foliage.
Linear Leaves
Linear shapes include the strap-like foliage of bulbs, iris, Hemerocallis (day lilies), sedges and grasses, as well as Euphorbia and Liriope, to name a few. This type of leaf can provide a stiff vertical element or an rounded fountain effect. Keep in mind, if you plan bulb foliage for this effect, that it will be fleeting. Also, bearded iris foliage goes downhill after bloom in many climates.
Non-linear Shapes
Simple leaf structures vary from lanceolate to oblong and likely comprise the majority of non-linear leaf plants.
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